Fashion Talent on the Move
2021-04-02
Notable companies in this week’s edition: Athleta (Gap), Calvin Klein (PVH), Chico’s, Columbia Sportswear, Crocs, Esprit, French Connection, Hanna Andersson, J.Crew, John Lewis, Rent The Runway, Rocky Brands, Salvatore Ferragamo, Sean John (Global Brands Group), Studio Retail Group, Tommy John, VF Corp, Vineyard Vines.
Board
In addition to the Bulk Moves below, J.Crew also added to its Board, doubling the size from 3 to 6. The new Directors are:
Fritz Dirk van Paasschen, former CEO of Coors, having earlier worked at NIKE.
Anna Fieler, former Chief Marketing Officer, PopSugar.
Nadia Rawlinson (who is Black), Chief People Officer at Slack (recently bought by Salesforce.com) and former CHRO at Live Nation and Rakuten USA.
Former Kohl’s CEO Kevin Mansell, who is white and 68 years old, is joining the Board of Chico’s. It looks like they actually increased the Board size to accommodate his joining.
$275Mln Rocky Brands named insurance executive Robyn R. Hahn to its Board of Directors. She’s currently President, Small Business division at Westfield Insurance.
French Connection added Neil Page to its Board. He was most recently CFO of Carpetright up until 2019.
John Lewis named Nish Kankiwala to its Board, replacing Laura Wade-Gery, who is stepping down at the end of her term this month. Kankiwala is currently CEO of British bakery brand Hovis, having earlier been President of Burger King International (translation: he has PE-backed company experience).
In addition to the CEO news below, Hanna Andersson added former NIKE exec Pamela Neferkara, who is Black, to its Board.
Executive Leadership
Value retailer Studio Retail Group named Paul Kendrick as its CEO, replacing Phil Maudsley, who is retiring. Kendrick has been at the company since 2016.
Jeff Tweedy, who has run the Sean John brand and served as EVP Men’s at parent company Global Brands Group, will be stepping down after about 20 years there (as in Employee #1). No word on who will be replacing him.
Premium childrenswear brand Hanna Andersson named Sally Pofcher as its new CEO (FYI, my Mac just auto-corrected “childrenswear” to “children swear” which I both took delight in and now can’t unsee…). She's been an operating partner at PE firm L Catterton, having earlier worked at Gap.
Craig Zanon is joining Columbia Sportswear as SVP Emerging Brands, reporting to CEO Tim Boyle. Zanon, who is replacing Doug Morse (he’s retiring), had been at NIKE for a number of years, most recently as VP & GM Global Basketball.
Esprit tapped its Chief Digital & Operations Officer, Leif Erichson, to run its European division. Erichson has been at Esprit pretty much his entire adult life (he’s 37, btw), so he should bring a welcome fresh perspective to the beleaguered business… They also announced two new VP roles, but looking at the guys’ LinkedIn profiles (here and here), I don’t see how they are actually “new.”
Vacant CEO Tracker
** Sean John (Global Brands Group) - Apr’2021
Bluemercury (Macy’s) - Mar’2021
Debenhams - Mar’2020
Greats (Steven Madden) - Sep’2020
JCPenney - Dec’2020
Laura Ashley - Jun’2020
MatchesFashion - Mar’2021
Moda Operandi - Jan’2021
Net-a-Porter (YNAP/Richemont) - Nov’2020
NIC+ZOE - Mar’2021
Roberto Cavalli - Sep’2020
Smythson - Jan’2021
Start-Rite - Feb’2021
Tailored Brands - Mar’2021
Takko Fashion - Jan’2021
The Year+, Anti-CEO Club…
Aspinal of London - Nov'2018
Bonmarché (Peacocks) - Dec'2019
Coach (Tapestry) - Mar’2020
Destination Maternity - Jun'2019
Duluth Trading Co. - Sep'2019
Emilio Pucci - Jan'2019
Escada - Jan’2020
Jack Wills - Aug'2019
Jigsaw - Jan'2019
Kookaï - Mar'2019
LXRandCo - Sep'2019
Mothercare - Jan’2020
PSEB Group - Jan’2020
The Row - Oct'2019
TopShop (Arcadia) - Dec'2019
Wolford - Oct'2019
Stocks on the Move (+/-15%)
Bulk Moves
VF Corp has gifted the newswires with one of its quasi-regular bulk move announcements, including:
Andreas Olsson: Named Regional GM, Dickies, EMEA, replacing Massimo Ferrucci (see below) and reporting to Scabbia Guerrini and Denny Bruce; joined VF in 2009.
Massimo Ferrucci: Named President, Napapijri; retains his current role of GM, Emerging Markets (replacing Timo Schmidt-Eisenhart, who left the brand last November).
Argu Secilmis: Named VP, Product & Marketing, Napapijri, reporting to Ferrucci; was most recently VP Global Apparel, Timberland.
Stuart Pond: Named VP, EMEA Supply Chain Operations, replacing Darren Miller, who is leaving VF after nearly 30 years and reporting to Guerrini; was most recently VP Supply Chain APAC.
[placeholder bullet in honor of all the women they left behind…]
Not to be outdone, J.Crew made a number of moves, as well:
Jose Davila: Joins as Chief People Officer; had spent a number of years at Levi Strauss and Gap.
Danielle Schmelkin: Moved up to be Chief Information Officer for the entire company, having just been CIO for the Madewell division previously.
Derek Yarbrough: Also moves up to J.Crew from Madewell, as Chief Marketing Officer, a newly-created position.
Liz Hershfield: Named SVP of Sustainability, a newly-created position. She, too, was in the same role, just at Madewell. (These feel like a parent yelling out to the kids in the street—“Ya’ll come inside now, it’s getting dark out there!” (Yes folks, my brain does actually think like this…).
Merch/Sales/P&A/Production
Tommy John recruited Beth Brown, former GM for Strategic Department Stores at NIKE, to be its VP of Sales.
Additionally, Tommy John has also recruited Melissa Ohm from NIKE (where she was Global VP of Women’s Apparel) to be its Chief Product Officer.
Creative/Design
Salvatore Ferragamo Creative Director Paul Andrew is leaving the luxury house after about five years there. No successor has been named.
Willy Chavarria has joined PVH-owned Calvin Klein as SVP of Design for North America and Global Essentials Apparel, Men’s. I dare say that little Willy’s style skews slightly Street / Something-Or-The-Other…
Marketing/Digital
Crocs promoted Heidi Cooley to SVP & Chief Marketing Officer. She’s been at the company since 2016 and essentially in the same role (but with a slightly less fabulous-sounding title) since 2020.
Interim Chief Marketing Officer Tom Herbst is stepping down from Gap-owned Athleta, having been helping those guys out since August according to his LinkedIn profile. Herbst was most recently CMO at The North Face, having earlier worked at Diageo for a number of years.
Stores/Tech/Ops/Supply Chain
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Finance
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HR/Legal
Missing my radar last month, it appears that Rent The Runway Chief People Officer Ellen Shultz, who had just joined in September, is no longer there.
John Mezzo is now VP HR at Vineyard Vines. He was most recently consulting at Burberry, having earlier held various HR roles at brands including Michael Kors, Victoria’s Secret, and Ralph Lauren.
Spring Projects
My latest attempt at being a #ButchGay was to figure out how to re-screen a few of the screen doors on our deck. My mother continues to be impressed that her little never-gonna-play-sports-or-get-dirty son can actually do things around the house. She does, though, continue to tell me how I should cook. But that’s a post for another day… Have a great weekend, everyone!
About
I have 20 years of wide-ranging executive recruiting experience. As a consultant, my services include name generation, sourcing, industry talent mapping, crafting position descriptions, and developing thorough target lists. Connect with me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tjasonbrown.