(PRESS RELEASE) LONDON, UK — The Board of SWAROVSKI International Holding AG and Nadja Swarovski jointly announced that she has stepped down from the company as of the end of December 2021. Ms Swarovski was a member of SWAROVSKI’s Executive Board and spearheaded the brand and sustainability strategy of the 126 year-old family business as well as chairing the SWAROVSKI Foundation that she established in 2013.
She leaves to start a new chapter in her career after 26 years in the family business, while remaining involved with the SWAROVSKI Foundation as Chair Emeritus. She joined the Swarovski family company in 1995, becoming the first female member of SWAROVSKI’s Executive Board. She initiated a program of collaboration between the SWAROVSKI brand and leading figures in fashion and jewellery, design, architecture, stage and screen, positioning the company at the vanguard of creative and lifestyle as well as supporting emerging and established design talent through the SWAROVSKI Collective initiative. In 2007, she set up Atelier SWAROVSKI, the company’s fashion, sustainably-crafted jewellery, accessories and home décor line, showcasing creativity, innovation and craftsmanship with crystal. She oversaw the line’s implementation of created diamonds and fair-trade metals within its jewellery, celebrating conscious luxury. The line has had over 250 collaborations with top international designers in fashion, jewellery and architecture, including Christopher Kane, Victor & Rolf, Jean Paul Gaultier and Karl Lagerfeld.
Luisa D. Delgado, Chair of the Board of Directors of SWAROVSKI International, said: “It is with deep gratitude that we acknowledge Nadja’s indelible imprint on the business. Her contribution over the years has been decisive in bringing SWAROVSKI to the forefront of the fashion industry. This will remain her legacy to SWAROVSKI. We are pleased to be able to continue to count on Nadja’s involvement in the SWAROVSKI Foundation going forward”.
Markus Langes-Swarovski, member of the Board of Directors, added: “Nadja’s perhaps greatest legacy to SWAROVSKI are the strides that the company has taken in sustainability and ethics under her skillful direction. We are grateful for her continued involvement in the SWAROVSKI Foundation, that is an important pillar of the sustainability commitment of the SWAROVSKI business and family.”
Ms Swarovski said: “I am deeply grateful for the experience of working in my family’s business and in particular very closely with my father, Helmut Swarovski, who taught me so much. My time at the SWAROVSKI company has been the most rewarding journey – what started with creativity and design has culminated in human empowerment and sustainability, and using Swarovski’s platform to support the environment and the community has been the greatest privilege of my career.” She added: “Collaborating with so many remarkable individuals globally in fashion, jewellery, architecture and beyond has been incredibly fulfilling and I’m thankful for these everlasting relationships.”