Desigual’s Chief Strategy and Channels Officer Jordi Balsells leaves to join Barcelona FC

By

Triana Alonso

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Jun 26, 2021

Changes are on the horizon for Desigual’s senior management team. Jordi Balsells, one of the Catalan label’s most experienced directors, is set to leave the company. Balsells, who started working at Desigual a decade ago, will join legendary football club Barcelona FC (Barça) as general manager of the Barça Licensing and Merchandising division.

“Jordi Balsells will step down from his role at Desigual on July 1 to start a new project with Barça,” confirmed the label founded by entrepreneur Thomas Meyer. “This is a personal decision and we wish him every success. Desigual would like to thank Jordi for his wholehearted involvement and commitment, and we wish him the best of luck in this new stage of his career,” added Desigual. No replacement has been chosen at this time, but the company is “working on it.”

Originally from Igualada, Catalonia, Balsells started out at Desigual as commercial director, from 2003 to 2007. He then left the company to take charge of the Sita Murt label for just over four years. In 2011, Jordi Balsells returned to Desigual as vice-president Asia Pacific, before adding to his remit also the responsibility of leading Desigual's expansion in the USA and Latin America.

Last June, in the midst of a pandemic, he was promoted to the newly created position of chief strategy and channels officer. He reported directly to Desigual’s Managing Director Alberto Ojinaga, and was one of the eight members of the label's executive committee. Balsells’s next professional role will take him to the football club chaired by Joan Laporta, where he will be in charge of retail, licensing and merchandising.

“We are convinced that Desigual's business model is very flexible,” said Balsells in an interview with FashionNetwork.com last April. The Catalan label, which has been in the spotlight in recent weeks thanks to its collaboration with Esteban Cortázar, will now have to prove how effective this model is, and succeed in improving its performance after being severely affected last year by the pandemic’s impact. In 2020, Desigual's revenue fell by 38.8%, down to €360 million.