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On Wednesday, US beauty group Coty announced an overhaul of its board with the appointment of five new independent directors.
The five incoming leaders named by the Covergirl and Burberry owner are Carsten Fischer, Alia Gogi, Robert Kunze-Concewitz, Maria Carla Liuni, and Stephanie Plaines, expanding the group to 10 members total. Kunze-Concewitz will chair remuneration, Plaines will lead audit and finance while Fischer has been appointed as the board’s new lead independent director.
The appointments coincide with a wave of departures. Beatrice Ballini, Isabelle Parize and Anna Adeola Makanju have stepped down from the board with immediate effect, while Robert Singer will continue to perform his role as audit and finance chair until his departure in June. Gordon von Bretten has also departed the board to focus on his executive role as president of Coty’s consumer beauty division.
The overhaul comes at a pivotal moment for Coty, which has faced pressure from slowing sales across its mass market division and intensifying competition from incumbent and emerging brands. The company has been reviewing its portfolio of brands — which includes Gucci Beauty, Marc Jacobs, Chloe and Kylie Cosmetics — and in Jan. appointed former Procter & Gamble executive Markus Strobel as dual chairman and interim chief executive following the departures of Peter Harf and Sue Nabi.
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Each of the new directors bring experience from senior leadership roles from companies across prestige beauty, consumer goods and luxury. Fischer held the role of representative director and corporate senior executive officer at Shiseido, while Gogi, an omnichannel expert, was president of Asia at Sephora and has also held senior and brand management roles at A.S. Watson Group and Nestlé. Luini is a former Bulgari executive, and spent 16 years at Procter & Gamble’s Prestige Beauty division.
Kunze-Concewitz, former chief executive of Campari Group, and Plaines, who served as chief financial officer for Starbucks, both have experience in the M&A space.
In February, the company reported a weaker-than-anticipated third quarter and pulled its 2026 forecast, citing a “complex beauty market backdrop.”
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