Apple hires former Yves Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve, wait what?
Bloomberg's Adam Satariano has reported (via 9to5Mac) that Apple has hired former Yves Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve (@PaulDeneve) as vice president, reporting directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
Apple would only confirm that Deneve will work on "special projects" and not as head of retail, as was speculated after John Browett's spectacular flame-out in that role last year.
In addition to being CEO of global fashion brand Yves Saint Laurent (which was recently rebranded as Saint Laurent Paris), Deneve's LinkedIn profile shows that he was previously president of fashion brands Lanvin and Nina Vicci. So what "special project" is he working on at Apple?
My money's on the iWatch.
YSL designed plenty of watches in its day, but maybe Tim Cook's hoping that there's a certain je ne sais quoi that Deneve could bring to something as pedestrian as a watch. We don't want it to turn out like Pebble, do we?
What's your take on the Deneve hire?