MILAN — The Prada Group is bolstering its C-suite by appointing three new top executives, all of whom bring their extensive experience to the Italian luxury company developed in key sectors outside the fashion industry.
Andrea Bonini was named chief financial officer; Cristina De Dona as general counsel, and Diego Maletto as internal auditing director.
Bonini will succeed Alessandra Cozzani effective May 2. Cozzani, who has been with the company for more than 20 years and has held the role of CFO since in 2016, will exit the company on Sept. 30 “to embrace other professional opportunities.” Bonini will report to Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli, who share the chief executive officer role, and will in charge of the group’s administration, finance, control, tax and investor relations departments.
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Bonini started his professional career in Milan-based M&A boutique Gallo & C. In 2005, he joined the Investment Banking Division of Goldman Sachs International, based in London, where he held the position of managing director since 2015. At Goldman Sachs, he was part of the Italy Coverage team until 2013 and subsequently joined the Consumer Retail Group, with responsibility for luxury and brands in Europe.
De Dona will be in charge of the supervision, development and consolidation of all the company’s legal, intellectual property and corporate affairs, reporting to Prada and Bertelli. She recently held the position of international chief counsel at The Hershey Company International. Previously, she was deputy general counsel at multinational manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products Ferrero and chief of staff for the Italian Ministry of Justice.
Maletto will report to chairman Paolo Zannoni. An Ernst & Young alum, Maletto took on the role of group audit director at Autostrade per l’Italia, which manages Italy’s motorways. Previously, he was head of internal audit at Vodafone for Italy, Greece, Albania and Malta.
Prada has been bulking up its management ranks. In January, as reported, the group reinforced its commitment to sustainability and appointed two new independent non-executive directors, Pamela Culpepper and Anna Maria Rugarli, selected for their professional background in environmental, social and governance, or ESG.
The appointments also signaled the upcoming establishment of an ESG board committee.
Prada has reported a return to profitability in 2021 after a strong second half, driven by increased sales of handbags, footwear and ready-to-wear, which saw a 53 percent jump in revenues compared with 2020 and a 16 percent increase on 2019. In 2021, revenues totaled 3.36 billion euros, climbing 41 percent from 2.42 billion euros in 2020.