Fashion Talent on the Move
2021-03-12
Notable companies in this week’s edition: The Children’s Place, HanesBrands, Herschel Supply Co., Killstar, Levi Strauss, Lululemon, Maker&Son, Nike, Nuorder, Roots, Ross Stores, Roxy (Boardriders), Saks (Hudson’s Bay), Shoe Zone, SoleSavy, Tiffany & Co. (LVMH), Under Armour, Vince Holding, Walmart.
Board
Walmart added former AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, who is white, to its Board of Directors. Let’s pray that they didn’t use an executive recruiting firm and pay some obscene six-figure fee just to land themselves another old white guy…
George Bodenheimer, the former President of ESPN, will be stepping down from the Under Armour Board in May.
Levi Strauss Board Chair Stephen Neal will be stepping down, as he is reaching the mandatory retirement age of 72. He will be replaced in the Chair role by Robert A. Eckert later this month.
Outdoor lifestyle brand Roots named Dexter Peart, who is Black, to its Board of Directors. Dexter and his twin brother Byron are somewhat of a pair of serial entrepreneurs within Canada. Their latest endeavor is co-founding a sustainable design marketplace called GOODEE.
Lululemon President Americas Celeste Burgoyne has joined the Board of online fitness platform Zwift.
Net-A-Porter Founder and now Co-Founder of Imaginary Ventures, has invested in Los Angeles-based virtual showroom Nuorder.
Executive Leadership
Having been CEO-less for the past several months, Vince Holding has tapped former Cost Plus CEO Jack Schwefel to be its new CEO. Schwefel, who starts his new job on March 29, was placed by executive recruiting firm Kirk Palmer Associates.
Gothic and alternative clothing brand Killstar named Traci Inglis as its CEO. She’s had stints at brands including RTW Retailwinds, TechStyle Fashion Group, Hot Topic, and Express. Kirk Palmer Associates also placed Inglis.
Vancouver-HQ’d Herschel Supply Co. tapped activewear exec Jon Hoerauf to be its CEO, a newly-created role for the company, which was previously overseen by various founding family members. Hoerauf was most recently at Amer Sports-owned Arc’teryx, where he was President of Apparel. Prior to there, he had spent a number of years at VF’s The North Face division.
British upholstery and home furnishings brand Maker&Son announced that apparel retail veteran Jim Hardy would be joining as U.S. President. Hardy spent about 25 years at Ralph Lauren, and more recently had brief stints at One Kings Lane, Brown Jordan, and Jack Wills.
Vacant CEO Tracker
Bluemercury (Macy’s) - Mar’2021
Coach (Tapestry) - Mar’2020
Debenhams - Mar’2020
Greats (Steven Madden) - Sep’2020
Hunter - Jun’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
Takko Fashion - Jan’2021
The Year+, Anti-CEO Club…
Aspinal of London - Nov'2018
Bonmarché (Peacocks) - Dec'2019
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
Bankruptcies
This past week:
None
Possibly in the hopper…
Aspinal of London
The Children’s Place
Designer Brands
Destination XL Group
Express
Harvey Nichols
Iconix Brand Group
J.Jill
Nordstrom
River Island
Sequential Brands Group
Vince
Stocks on the Move (+/-15%)
Bulk Moves
Hudson’s Bay-owned Saks Fifth Avenue will be spinning off its E-Commerce business as a separate entity, although Saks CEO Marc Metrick will be leading Saks.com. Additionally, Director of Stores Larry Bruce will become President of the Store business, reporting to HBC CEO Richard Baker. Former Amazon.com exec Sebastian Cunningham will be joining the Board of the e-commerce business to advise on its marketplace expansion. This whole thing sounds like it could be a mess. #MoreShallBeRevealed
The Children’s Place plans on closing 122 stores in this fiscal year. Last year they closed 178.
Ross Stores plans on opening about 60 stores this year.
Following Ann Hebert’s resig-firing (firesignation?) last week, Nike made a number of talent moves, including:
Sarah Mensah: Replaces Hebert as VP/GM North America; will report to Heidi O’Neill.
Amy Montagne: Replaces Mensah as VP/GM APLA; will also report to Heidi O’Neill.
Aaron Cain: Replaces Montagne as VP/GM Men’s; will report to Michael Spillane.
Herb down in the Mailroom: Finally gets that promotion to In-Bound HQ Parcel Technician that he’s wanted for the last 25 years…. j/k.
Merch/Sales/P&A/Production
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Creative/Design
LVMH-owned Tiffany & Co. tapped Ruba Abu-Nimah as Executive Creative Director, Marketing, and Communications, reporting to EVP of Product & Communications Alexandre Arnault. Abu-Nimah was most recently SVP Creative Director at Revlon.
Boardriders-owned Roxy named Stephanie Micci as its Global Creative Design Director, a newly-created position. She was most recently at Tommy Hilfiger Sport, having earlier worked at Burberry and Calvin Klein, among others places.
Marketing/Digital
Subscription-based sneaker platform SoleSavy named Mitchell Holder as SVP, Marketing, reporting to Co-Founder & CEO Dejan Pralica. Holder was most recently VP of Marketing for the Los Angeles Lakers professional basketball team.
Stores/Tech/Ops/Supply Chain
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Finance
Shoe Zone named Terry Boot (yes, that’s his surname) as its new Finance Director. He was most recently CFO (then CEO) of The Company of Master Jewellers.
HR/Legal
HanesBrands named Tracy Preston, who is Black, as its General Counsel. She was most recently at Neiman Marcus for the past several years, having earlier worked at Levi Strauss.
Glancing at our CEOs…
Just a quick snapshot of 71 publicly-traded retailers that I follow. The number of women CEOs is better than the S&P 500 rate, but considering that, I don’t know, 80% of our revenue comes from women… CEO tenure is roughly in line with other industries. We do have a somewhat lower CEO age (but don’t be fooled—there are some Old AF dudes in this group, we just have several fairly young CEOs as well).
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.