The French executive, who spent 23 years at Pernod Ricard, will succeed Philippe Blondiaux as Chanel closes in on a leadership transition on both its creative and financial sides.
Chanel has appointed Hélène de Tissot as its Global Chief Financial Officer, the house announced on Wednesday. De Tissot, currently Executive Vice President of Finance and Technology at Pernod Ricard, will join Chanel in October and take up her full responsibilities as CFO in January, based in London. She succeeds Philippe Blondiaux, who is retiring at the end of 2026 after 15 years in the role.
De Tissot joined Pernod Ricard in 2002 and has spent 23 years at the French spirits group, including six years as Chief Financial Officer for Asia based in Hong Kong, before moving into Group Strategy and Mergers & Acquisitions, and later into her current finance and technology remit as a member of the group’s Executive Committee. She will leave Pernod Ricard on 30 September, and will report to Chanel’s Global Chief Executive Officer, Leena Nair, who joined the house from Unilever in 2022.
Blondiaux has held the CFO post since 2011, steering Chanel’s finances through a period that included record levels of real estate investment in 2024 and, more recently, a return to growth. He is credited with overseeing the house’s 2025 turnaround, in which full-year revenue rose 3% at reported exchange rates to US$19.3 billion, alongside a 5% increase in operating profit to $4.71 billion and a 44% jump in free cash flow to $2.65 billion, following a 2024 in which comparable revenue had declined 4.3% amid a slowdown in mainland China spending.
“As Global CFO at Chanel, De Tissot will continue to enhance our finance function, enabling us to make further long-term investments in creation, craftsmanship, exceptional client experiences and our people,” Chanel said in a statement.
Pernod Ricard has named Mauve Croizat as de Tissot’s successor, effective 1 October, with Croizat taking up the role of Group Deputy CFO from 24 August to oversee the handover. Croizat has spent close to 20 years at Pernod Ricard across finance, business development and general management roles in France, the United States and Sweden, most recently leading the group’s global transformation programme after serving as Vice President of Finance and Administration at The Absolut Company and Chief Executive Officer of Pernod Ricard Sweden and Northern Europe.
The appointment comes as Chanel’s recovery gathers pace, with high-single-digit revenue growth in recent months driven in large part by demand for the first collections designed by creative director Matthieu Blazy.