Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) Inc. announced the appointment of Peter Hawkings to the role of creative director at Tom Ford, in addition to the hiring of Guillaume Jesel, as U.S. fashion brand’s new CEO.

Hawkings will succeed the namesake designer Tom Ford in his new role as creative director of fashion, which includes womenswear, menswear and accessory categories, and will assume the role of lead designer for the fashion segment and fashion shows.

The designer has been working alongside Tom Ford for nearly twenty-five years, most recently as senior vice president of Tom Ford menswear. Before joining Tom Ford in 2006, where he was charged with overseeing the design and production of all categories of Tom Ford menswear including tailoring, sportswear, leather goods, and accessories, Hawkings began his career in 1998 at Gucci under the helm of Ford and worked closely with the designer on the development of Gucci’s menswear collections.

​“In Peter Hawkings the brand has found the perfect Creative Director,” said Ford. “Peter began working with me 25 years ago as a menswear design assistant at Gucci and rapidly worked his way up to become the senior men’s designer at the company when he left to join me at the Tom For brand. Since the creation of Tom Ford menswear, Peter has been instrumental in the success of the brand. He is an incredibly talented leader with tremendous industry experience, and his appointment gives me confidence that my commitment to creating fashion products with the highest level of design and quality will continue.”

The New York-based company also said that Ermenegildo Zegna has appointed a new CEO of Tom Ford Fashion, who is expected to be announced in July and assume the role in the third quarter.