Christophe Pla named general director of Orchestra
Cassidy STEPHENS
Orchestra, the French children’s fashion and childcare brand has promoted Christophe Pla to general manager. Pla, who has been finance manager since november 2019, will take over from Orchestra’s founder Pierre Mestre, who will remain chairman of the brand.
Pla entered the group in June 2018 as director of financial planning. He was previously employed at Dimotrans, a transport and logistics specialist, as administrative and financial director, the auditing firm Ernst & Young and at IBM as management controller.
His previous role as Orchestra’s finance manager has been passed on to Christophe Murador, the brand’s current director of finance and treasury.
Orchestra was placed under safeguard procedure in September 2019, then in receivership in April 2020, before being taken over two months later by its founder and owner Pierre Mestre via the company NewOrch. As of today the brand has 430 stores, of which 250 are in France.
Orchestra’s marketing director Sophie Malka stated that the company is doing well, despite current circumstances. She commented that the back-to-school period, that represents around 12% of the brand’s annual sales, was very satisfactory. “We are in a market of need. Parents will always need to dress their children, who are growing very fast, and to equip themselves for the arrival of their baby,” explained Malka.
The brand has 1.4 million Club Orchestra cardholders and expects to turnover 450 million euros in financial year 2022.
