John Hooks – Independent Director
John Hooks is an Independent Director of the Company. He has been in the luxury fashion industry for over 40 years. A graduate of Oxford University, he joined Gruppo Finanziario Tessile (GFT) in 1979 and was commercial director for the prêt-à-porter collection of Valentino Garavani. From 1988 to 1994, based in Asia, he was responsible for the establishment of GFT's regional subsidiaries in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia as well as in mainland China (in 1988, the first major foreign fashion company to establish a direct presence in that country). From 1995 to 2000 he was Commercial and Retail Director of Jil Sander in Hamburg, Germany. In 2000, Mr. Hooks joined Giorgio Armani as Group Commercial and Marketing Director and later became Deputy Chairman of the Giorgio Armani Group. From 2011 to 2014 he was Group President of Ralph Lauren Europe and the Middle East. He was a senior adviser at McKinsey & Company from 2016 to 2021. Currently, he is an independent consultant specializing in organization, marketing, brand strategies and distribution in the apparel, luxury, fashion and accessories sectors.