Chanel appoints Helene de Tissot as Chief Financial Officer

Chanel has appointed Hélène de Tissot as its next Chief Financial Officer, bringing an experienced global finance leader into its executive team as the luxury house prepares for its next phase of growth.

De Tissot will join Chanel in October 2026 before assuming full responsibilities as CFO in London in January 2027. She will report directly to Global Chief Executive Officer Leena Nair.

She succeeds Philippe Blondiaux, who will retire from Chanel at the end of December 2026 after a long tenure with the company. The transition was announced on 22 July.

In her new role, de Tissot will lead Chanel’s global finance function and support its long-term investment priorities across creativity, craftsmanship, customer experience, technology and people. Her appointment adds extensive international finance, strategy and transformation experience to the company’s leadership team.

De Tissot joins Chanel following a 23-year career at Pernod Ricard. For the past eight years, she served as Executive Vice President, Finance and Technology, and was a member of the spirits group’s executive committee. In that role, she helped strengthen its global finance and technology organisation while supporting long-term business development and transformation.

During her time at Pernod Ricard, de Tissot held several senior positions across corporate finance and international markets. She became Chief Financial Officer for Asia in 2010 and was based in Hong Kong before moving into the role of Group Strategy and Mergers and Acquisitions Director in 2016. She was appointed Group Finance, IT and Operations Director in 2018.

Before joining Pernod Ricard, she spent eight years as an international tax lawyer at Arthur Andersen. She is an ESSEC Business School graduate, holds a master’s degree in business law from Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas and has passed the French Bar examination. Pernod Ricard confirmed that she will leave the group on 30 September 2026.

The appointment comes at a significant juncture for Chanel as the company balances continued investment in its brand, retail network, craftsmanship and customer experience with financial discipline in a more selective global luxury market. The privately held luxury house reported revenue of $19.3 billion in 2025.

De Tissot’s experience spanning finance, technology, mergers and acquisitions, taxation and regional leadership is expected to support Chanel’s global ambitions while strengthening its financial and operational capabilities under Nair’s leadership.