Maureen Chiquet

Maureen Chiquet (born 1963) was the CEO of fashion house Chanel, a role she was in since 2007.^[1]

Early life

Chiquet was born as Maureen Cathy Popkin in St.Louis, Missouri in 1963. She studied at Yale University in Connecticut, where she graduated with a degree in film and literature.^[1] She was unsure of what future career to pursue after graduation, and was reported to have left the examination mid-way through a Law School Admission Test. Chiquet went on to do a marketing internship at L'Oréal Paris, work she later described as "the beginning of my career and love affair with the world of beauty and fashion".^[1]

Career

After her time in Paris, Chiquet returned to the US in 1988, joining Gap Inc. as an assistant merchandiser in its San Francisco offices. She received praise in 1994 for helping launch the Old Navy Brand, which soon became a leading part of the business, worth a total of $5 billion. She went on to become executive vice president of merchandising, planning and production.^[2] In 2002, she briefly joined another Gap subsidiary, Banana Republic and later said that leaving the company to join Chanel was the most important decision of her career.^[1] A year after joining Chanel in 2003, she was appointed of president of Chanel in the US, responsible for fragrance and beauty, fashion, watches and fine jewellery divisions. When Chanel restructured in 2007, Chiquet assumed the role of the company-wide CEO, and has been described as a Francophile,^[1] a statement which Chiquet backed up by saying "I just dreamed about living in Paris and being French" in an interview with Time.^[3]

Awards

Portfolio magazine once credited Chiquet with transforming Chanel into "the single most valuable fashion brand", which has grown under her leadership to be worth $6.2 billion.^[1]

References