Ralph Toledano (born 27 September 1951, Casablanca,

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

) is a French-Moroccan businessman. He is president of the

Puig Puig () is a word of Catalan origin, meaning "hill". Hence, in Catalan-speaking areas, it appears in the names of numerous people and geographical features: Geographical features *Puig-l'agulla, a mountain of Catalonia *Puig de l'Àliga (Sant Pe ...

group’s fashion division; president of the Fédération française de la Couture, du Prêt à Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode; and president of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture.

Family

He was born in a

Moroccan Jewish Moroccan Jews ( ar, اليهود المغاربة, al-Yahūd al-Maghāriba he, יהודים מרוקאים, Yehudim Maroka'im) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman times. Jews b ...

family, to Rose-Sarah Toledano and Joseph Toledano, one of the leaders in Morocco's preserved and canned food industries. Joseph Toledano was a distinguished member of the Jewish community in

and was president of the Moroccan delegation to the

World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act a ...

. He lived in Morocco until he was 18 years old. Toledano graduated from the French business school

HEC HEC or hec may refer to: Math and science * Habitable Exoplanets Catalog * HEC syndrome, a medical condition characterized by hydrocephalus, endocardial fibroelastosis and cataracts * Highly emetogenic chemotherapy, a term for chemotherapy drug ...

in 1973. Toledano married Céline Toledano on November 17, 1990. Together they raised three children: Emmanuelle, Sarah and Ilan.

Career

He became president of the

group’s fashion division in 2012. He was managing director of

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer. He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 u ...

’s company and signature label from 1985 - 1995. He then joined

Guy Laroche Guy Laroche () (16 July 1921 – 17 February 1989) was a French fashion designer and founder of the eponymous company. Biography Laroche was born in La Rochelle, and began his career in millinery. From 1949, Laroche worked for Jean Dess� ...

as managing director in 1996, soon naming

Alber Elbaz Alber Elbaz ( he, אלבר אלבז; 12 June 1961 – 24 April 2021) was an Israeli fashion designer. He was the creative director of Lanvin in Paris from 2001 until 2015, after having done stints at a number of other fashion houses, including G ...

artistic director of the French house. Mr. Toledano stayed at

until 1999 when he was named chief executive officer of

Chloé Chloé () is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion. During the next year of 1953 Aghion joined forces with Jacques Lenoir, formally managing the business side of the brand, allowing Aghion to purely pursue the creative ...

(Groupe Richemont). Two years after his arrival, he brought

Phoebe Philo Phoebe Philo OBE (born 1 January 1973) is a British fashion designer. She was the creative director of fashion brands Céline from 2008 to 2018 and Chloé from 2001 to 2006. Early life and education Philo was born in Paris to British parents w ...

on board as artistic director. Toledano remained head of

until 2010. From 2011-2012 Mr. Toledano was chairman of St. John.

He was president of the Chambre Syndicale du Prêt à Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode from 2003-2008 and from 2012-2014. He was elected president of the Fédération française de la Couture, du Prêt à Porter des Couturiers et des Créateurs de Mode on July 1, 2014 and holds the position since then. He was re-elected as President of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture on November 12, 2015. In 2018 he was appointed Chairman of Victoria Beckham Ltd. Toledano is a member of the board of DEFI, a (French organization that works to support the French fashion industry both domestically and at export) He is a board member of the IFM and the Association Villa Noailles (which in particular organizes the ''Hyères Festival'')

Awards and Distinctions

Toledano is a Chevalier in the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

(2003) and an Officer in the

Ordre National du Mérite The Ordre national du Mérite (; en, National Order of Merit) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's es ...

(2014).Ralph Toledano to Receive Merit Award
WWD

Notes and references

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Toledano, Ralph 1951 births Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Businesspeople in fashion Haute couture 20th-century Moroccan Jews French people of Moroccan-Jewish descent Moroccan emigrants to France Moroccan business executives Living people