Lingerie group Van de Velde in search of new CEO

Ignace Van Doorselaere will step down as Flemish lingerie group Van de Velde‘s CEO at the end of the year. That does not mean Marie Jo‘s owner will just come to a standstill in 2016, far from it.

“Need something else” after 12 years

Ignace Van Doorselaere, 56 years old, will resign from his position at the head of Van de Velde, located in Schellebelle (Eastern Flanders). The news was part of the publication and presentation of the group’s yearly results, which were wonderful once again: Its 2015 turnover reached 209 million euro (up 5.3 %) and its recurring group profit reached 41 million euro (up 20.7 %).

Van Doorselaere joined Van de Velde in March 2004, after a spell at brewery AB InBev. He was joint CEO until the end of 2014, when the founders’ grand-son Herman Van de Velde stepped down. He handled everything himself last year, but he is going to step down himself. “I have been in beer for 12 years and in bras for another 12 years. It is time for a change, but I have no idea what. Maybe I have issues with the number twelve or a fear of number 13, I don’t know.”

The company started its search for a possible successor and according to Herman Van de Velde, its new CEO will not come from within the company’s ranks.

Tupperware parties and ‘experience centers’

Van Doorselaere’s impending departure does not mean the company will grind to a halt in 2016, because it will experiment with new distribution channels, this year more than ever.

Van de Velde launched a home party formula in France last year, similar to the Tupperware parties. “We have done about 15 and the tests have resulted in a decent turnover and plenty of new customers. The goal is to create a system with independent entrepreneurs”, Van Doorselaere said. Soon, it will do the same in Germany and Belgium “might follow later”.

Van de Velde will also run tests with “experience centers”, where consumers can try outfits, but they cannot buy them there. They could order the sets online and get them delivered in a boutique, because “boutiques are still essential, particularly in Belgium”.

A team of 12 is also working about the disruptive economy’s challenges, like how scanning techniques or “big data” can help women to choose the appropriate lingerie. “We keep pursuing the fitting booth formula as a channel”, the departing CEO said. “But it does present a huge range of opportunities if you no longer consider the fitting room as a physical room, but as a formula”.