Kiko Milano Names Regional Managing Director for North America
MILAN — After tapping Cecilia Schena as chief marketing officer last week, Kiko Milano is continuing to strengthen its global leadership team by naming Shelagh Wong its regional managing director for North America.
Effective immediately, the appointment signals the Italian beauty brand’s commitment to setting a stage for a strong comeback in the American market. Reporting directly to Kiko Milano’s chief executive officer Simone Dominici, Wong will be tasked with supporting the expansion plan in the region via an acceleration of the brand’s omnichannel strategy.
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As reported, the American arm of the brand filed for bankruptcy at the beginning of 2018, closing nearly all of its 29 retail locations in the U.S. The reorganization was part of a bigger, global plan implemented under Dominici’s predecessor Cristina Scocchia and aimed at redefining the company’s geographic footprint with strong investments eastward in markets in Asia, India and the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the brand put a heightened focus on its e-commerce, as well as on enhancing its presence on Ulta’s and Amazon’s digital platforms, which propelled a strong jump in the overall online sales of the company. Kiko Milano kept just two physical units in Miami, but with this online push the brand is “regaining some respect in the market, and that is leaving us room to be a little bit more optimistic about the future strategy,” Dominici said in an interview with WWD last year.
Wong counts years of experience in international companies in the beauty and retail sectors. Most recently, she was general manager for the Elaluz and Smith & Cult brands at Luxury Brand Partners, an American company that develops prestigious beauty brands, which she joined in 2020. There she implemented a commercial strategy focused on repositioning the labels and strengthening the partnership with Ulta beauty, which accelerated a growth in turnover.
Previously, Wong was vice president Asia Pacific and travel retail at Korres Skincare, where she led the launch of the Greek brand in the Chinese market through a focus on franchising and the optimization of its digital presence on Tmall.com.
Before that, in 2013 she joined The Estée Lauder Cos. Inc., assuming the role of international business operations director, leading the development and expansion of emerging markets. In 2017, following the acquisition of Becca Cosmetics by the company, she was promoted to global commercial strategy and international business development executive director, contributing to the acceleration of the commercial development of that brand.
Established in 1997 by entrepreneurs Antonio and Stefano Percassi, Kiko Milano is controlled by Percassi’s Odissea Srl holding and generated sales of 671 million euros in 2022, up 41.6 percent versus the previous year and beating the results of its best year in 2017, when the group generated sales of 610 million euros.
The company has more than 1,000 stores in 40 countries and sells its products in more than 62 markets.
Last year, the founding family bought back the 38 percent stake private equity fund Peninsula Capital had held in the firm since first investing in the company in 2018 through an 80 million euro capital increase.
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