Valentino has named Karim Zebdji director of global communications, effective Monday, filling a post vacant since Tanja Ruhnke's departure in May 2025.

Zebdji will be based in Milan and report to chief marketing officer Liran Peterzil, who joined the Rome-based couture house in February. The appointment continues the management rebuild under chief executive officer Riccardo Bellini, in charge since September 2025.

Who is Karim Zebdji?

Zebdji arrives from Saint Laurent in Paris, where he served as worldwide PR director for nearly a decade. Before that, he held communications roles at Hogan, under the Tod's Group umbrella, and at Dunhill. His move marks a lateral shift from one European luxury group's communications apparatus to another, bringing long-tenured Kering-network experience to Valentino's leadership team.

How does the hire fit Bellini's restructuring?

The communications appointment is one node in a broader executive reassembly. Since taking the top job in September 2025, Bellini has been installing a new chain of command, starting with a deputy:

• Laurent Bergamo, named deputy CEO in December last year. Bergamo first joined Valentino in 2018 after 14 years at Tod's.
• Davide Tosi, appointed chief merchandising officer. He previously served as global chief merchandising officer of ready-to-wear at Gucci.
• Liran Peterzil, chief marketing officer since February, now Zebdji's direct superior.

The pattern points to consistent recruitment from senior merchandising, marketing and communications ranks at rival Italian and French luxury houses — Gucci, Tod's Group and Saint Laurent among them.

Who controls Valentino, and until when?

The executive churn unfolds against a fixed ownership backdrop. Kering and Mayhoola jointly announced last year that Valentino's current ownership structure will not change before 2028 at the earliest.

That agreement amended the shareholders' deal signed when Kering acquired a stake in Valentino in 2023. Under the revised terms:

• Mayhoola's put options on Kering, exercisable in 2026 and 2027 for its remaining 70 percent stake, are postponed to 2028 and 2029 respectively.
• Kering's call option to acquire Mayhoola's stake in 2028 is deferred to 2029.

The deferral gives Bellini and his team a multi-year window to execute the house's strategy before any ownership decision crystallizes.

What comes next on the product side?

Creative director Alessandro Michele unveiled his spring 2027 collection for Valentino in Paris last week, staged at the Sainte-Geneviève Library in the Latin Quarter. With the creative calendar set and the commercial leadership now largely in place, Zebdji's communications mandate will be tested as the house builds toward the next milestone in Michele's tenure.