Global Fashion Group Co-CEO Patrick Schmidt, the former CEO of GFG’s ANZ region, is stepping down from his current role to spend more time with his family and on his investments in renewables.
For the past 10 years, Schmidt played a key part in building GFG through its varying global markets across ANZ, South-East Asia, and Latin America.
In his initial role as CEO in the ANZ region, he helped establish The Iconic as a key fashion eCommerce site.
He also initiated the turnaround of GFG’s SEA region as interim CEO of Zalora, a major fashion eCommerce marketplace.
Christoph Barchewitz will become CEO as Schmidt steps down. Barchewitz has been the Co-CEO alongside Schmidt for the last five years and has helped established the business in its varying markets while aiming for GFG to become a publicly listed company.
As CEO, he will be responsible for the executive management of the Group across all three regions of operation and will oversee the ongoing strategic and operational evolution of the company in this next stage of its development.
Meanwhile, Gunjan Soni has been appointed COO and will join the Management Board, in addition to her role as CEO of GFG’s SEA marketplace Zalora.
She will have the added responsibility of delivering the Group’s strategic priorities by leveraging GFG’s technology capabilities.
GFG said that, since joining GFG in 2019, Soni has led the transformation of Zalora to be a profitable and strongly differentiated player in a highly competitive SEA market. A key aspect to this, said GFG, was strengthening the technology and product offering to build a strong platform business.
GFG Supervisory Board Chairman Cynthia Gordon said it was sad to see Schmidt go and wished him the best for the future, while welcoming Barchewitz as CEO, and Soni as COO
“Having their combined experience on the Management Board will strengthen and build on the GFG’s successes even further,” Gordon said.
Schmidt said it has been a privilege to work with GFG for the past decade alongside the global team.
“I am proud of what we have achieved together and to have co-led a business which is pioneering fashion e-commerce in growth markets,” Schmidt said. “Christoph is an outstanding leader and I trust that with Gunjan joining the Management Board, there is no better team to lead GFG into this next stage of the company’s development.”
Barchewitz thanked Schmidt for his partnership and leadership over the years while Soni welcomed her new role as COO.
“There is a huge opportunity for GFG to shape the future of fashion e-commerce in our markets, and I’m really looking forward to driving the delivery of our strategic priorities even further to capture this,” Soni said.
GFG operates three e-commerce platforms: Dafiti in the LATAM region, Zalora in SEA, and The Iconic in ANZ. The online marketplaces connect an assortment of international, local and own brands to an estimated 800 million consumers.