Three CEO's in two years: musical chairs at Christopher Kane

London - Less than two years ago, London Fashion Week designer Christopher Kane's parent company Kering announced a changing of the guard: Kane's CEO Alexandre de Brettes was being replaced by Sarah Crook, a veteran of Club 21, the UK partner of Giorgio Armani. Brettes had only been in the job for one year.

At the time, Marco Bizzarri, CEO of Kering’s ‘Luxury - Couture & Leather Goods’ division, said of Crook: "I’m confident that both her strong merchandising and commercial skills and her extensive expertise in business development acquired will benefit the Christopher Kane brand in its strategic expansion.”

Fast forward two years and the brand's progress, if measured against strategic expansion, hasn't exactly exploded. So much so that Kering is replacing Crook with Nikolas Talonpoika, a former Director at Gucci, who's is tasked with the job of accelerating the brand where the last two CEO's failed. He is also tasked to further cement the brand's distinctive identity.

"I think this gives you a good idea of how difficult it is to grow a smaller fashion brand,” Luca Solca, head of luxury goods at Exane BNP Paribas, told the Business of Fashion. “I think Christopher Kane is potentially promising but realising that potential is very difficult indeed.”

Such is the struggle for smaller brands in the luxury market, who don't have the advertising power of the Gucci's and Louis Vuitton's of the world, and who are fighting for the same rail space as high end brands that are currently trending, like Vetements.

In July 2013, when Kering appointed Brettes as Kane's new CEO, the aim was for him to focus on organic global growth and protecting and nurturing the creative DNA of Kane's business.

It would appear the same issues and goals are relevant today.