Brands
Diesel
OTB Group-owned Diesel appointed Eraldo Poletto as CEO for North America.
Poletto will report to Diesel Global CEO Massimo Piombini and lead the Italian firm’s development in “a key market with great growth potential for the brand,” the company said. He succeeds Patrick Valeo, who served in the role since April 2020.
Since 2018, Poletto was CEO and brand president of the Stuart Weitzman footwear brand, part of the Tapestry clothing and accessories group. Previously, he was managing director of several Italian companies, including Salvatore Ferragamo and Furla.
Nike
Nike Inc. announced that Ann Miller, a 14-year Nike veteran with more than two decades of legal experience, will become executive vice president (EVP) and general counsel, effective Feb. 17.
Miller succeeds Hilary Krane, EVP, chief accounting officer and general counsel, who has decided to retire in February after 12 years with the company.
Miller joined Nike in 2007 and has held several senior roles across the company. For the past six years, she has served as Nike’s vice president, corporate secretary and chief ethics and compliance officer.
Prior to joining Nike, Miller worked as a corporate lawyer at the law firms of Paul Hastings and Sullivan & Cromwell.
Nester Hosiery
Nester Hosiery, a U.S. manufacturer of performance merino wool socks and parent company of the Farm to Feet sock brand, made several promotions to strengthen the support of its branded and licensed business units.
Chris Nitzsche was named general manager of licenses and Matt Brucker as general manager of brands, including Farm to Feet.
In addition, Nester promoted Anna Draughn to director of merchandising, where she will focus on all Nester brands, including Farm to Feet and licensed brands Ariat, Keen and Woolrich. Draughn joined Nester in 2015 as marketing and sales coordinator and was most recently wholesale merchandise manager.
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In 2017 Nitzsche joined Nester as Farm to Feet vice president of sales. Brucker was hired in 2019 as vice president of sales focused on Nester’s private label business. In their new positions each will be responsible for all aspects of their respective business units.
Retail
Stitch Fix
Stitch Fix Inc., an online personalized shopping company, announced that Sachin Dhawan joined the company as chief technology officer (CTO).
Dhawan and will report to Stitch Fix CEO Elizabeth Spaulding. He was previously senior vice president of infrastructure and operations at Visa, where he built and scaled Visa’s global technology infrastructure. Before that, Dhawan was CTO at payments disruptor Blackhawk Network.
Wayfair
Home goods e-tailer Wayfair Inc. appointed Fiona Tan as chief technology officer (CTO).
Tan will succeed Jim Miller on March 1, with Miller staying on for a transition period leading up to his retirement at the end of June.
Tan joined Wayfair in 2020 as global head of customer and supplier technology working closely with Miller as the planned successor to the CTO role.
Tan steps into the CTO role with more than 25 years of experience leading technology teams at dynamic and fast-growing companies, including six years in executive leadership roles at Walmart overseeing technology and engineering.
Wayfair generated $14.1 billion in net revenue for the year ended Sept. 30. Headquartered in Boston, with operations throughout North America and Europe, Wayfair employs approximately 16,000 people.
Trade
AAFA
Jennifer Hanks was named director of brand protection for the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA).
As the chief advocate and spokesperson for AAFA on intellectual property (IP) and brand protection issues, Hanks serves as the staff liaison to AAFA’s Brand Protection Council. She connects with government officials, members of Congress, and representatives of global e-commerce, social and digital platforms to shape IP policy, protect U.S. branded products and advance AAFA member online and offline priorities.
Hanks background of public policy, advocacy, coalition management and strategic communications experience was earned serving across a series of bicoastal public and private sector positions, including with a Washington, D.C. public affairs firm, CNN Worldwide, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Her career began working in the California state legislature and the California governor’s office.
ST&R
International trade law firm and consultancy Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg (ST&R) announced that Angela Marshall Hofmann joined the firm as vice president for international trade and supply chain resiliency, increasing ST&R’s capacity to leverage its legislative and government relations expertise to address rapidly changing global regulatory environments impacting trading systems and compliance.
Most recently, Hofmann led the Eurasia Group’s industrial and consumer corporate practice, specializing in geopolitical risk impacting global manufacturing, logistics, retail and consumer goods multinational organizations in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America.
With employees in nine offices across the United States and Asia, and strategic alliances throughout the globe, ST&R is one of the largest dedicated international trade, customs and export law firms in the world. It offers expertise to companies in complying with the laws, rules, and regulations affecting imports and exports.
Sustainability
Apparel Impact Institute
The Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) welcomed Tamara Wulf as senior director of programs.
Wulf will oversee deployment of initiatives that deliver impact reductions from apparel and footwear production. In particular, she will lead development of Aii’s chemicals management and wastewater treatment programs. Based in Germany, Wulf will be Aii’s European representative for programs and stakeholder engagement.
She comes to Aii with more than 15 years of experience in the sporting goods, fast fashion and consultancy industries. Previously senior project officer at Sustainable Textile Solutions by BluWin Ltd., Wulf was responsible for driving growth by identifying and entering new business segments to position BluWin.
Aii identifies, funds, scales and measures proven quality solutions to accelerate positive impact in the fashion industry.
Technology
XRC Labs
XRC Labs, a New York City-based venture capital firm and startup accelerator focused on retail technology, consumer brands and consumerized healthcare, announced Dorothy Sumption as a new partner.
In addition to its ongoing cohort program, XRC has launched a new Brand Capital Fund for direct-to-consumer brand investing and an Opportunity Fund for capabilities. Sumption will lead investor relations across this expanded portfolio of funds.
Prior to joining XRC, she spent 20 years in investor relations and business development within the institutional asset management industry, most recently as a director of investor relations at Bain Capital Credit.
Launched in 2015, the company has since invested in more than 100 startups. XRC Labs’ corporate sponsors include Mastercard, The Estée Lauder Companies, The TJX Companies, with more than 330 business mentors.
Splitit
Splitit, a company empowering shoppers to use their credit cards to pay in installments, announced that its board of directors appointed Nandan Sheth as CEO, effective Feb. 28.
Splitit also announced that interim CEO John Harper, who joined Splitit in August to lead the company during the global search process for a permanent appointment, will stay on for a period of time to ensure a smooth transition.
Sheth most recently served as Fiserv’s head of global digital commerce and carat business, an ecosystem of omnichannel commerce solutions for large multinational merchants.
Splitit is a credit card–based installment solution that lets consumers spend smarter by making the most of the credit cards they already have. Splitit gives shoppers more control by turning larger purchases into more manageable monthly installments on their existing credit cards with no new financing, interest or fees, while benefitting from the card’s existing rewards program.
MakerSights
MakerSights, a retail technology company, announced that Lisa Bougie joined its board of directors as the first independent board member alongside the company’s founders, Dan Leahy and Matt Field, as well as Monica Varman, Zach Barasz, and Brian O’Malley.
Bougie’s experience includes C-suite executive and trusted advisor roles at Gap, Patagonia, Nike and Stitch Fix, where she was most recently as general manager of Stitch Fix Women.
Over the last year, MakerSights has added Rothy’s, Madewell, and Luxottica Retail, among others to its client roster, which includes New Balance, Champion, UGG, Bonobos and Faherty. In August, the company raised $25.6 million in a Series B round of financing led by G2 Venture Partners, a venture capital firm that invests exclusively in companies supporting sustainable innovations that battle the climate crisis. MakerSights has raised $36.6 million to date with previous funding from Forerunner Ventures and Baseline Ventures.
Trade Shows
International Market Centers
International Market Centers (IMC) announced the hiring of Caroline Russell, who as the new design services manager will focus on driving Open Daily and at-market attendance of designers and home retailers to AmericasMart and providing on-site customer service once they arrive.
Russell joins IMC with two prior years of experience as a client services representative at Ferguson Enterprises, where she assisted interior designers in selecting lighting, appliances and plumbing.
The Open Year Round home decor collection at AmericasMart features 140-plus showrooms, with 350 lighting, accent furniture, rugs, wall décor, casual furniture and linens brands plus 100 commercial design brands. The gift collection features more than 130 multiline representative groups and branded showrooms for gift, lifestyle, gourmet, tabletop, holiday/floral and outdoor living product. In apparel, Cash & Carry showrooms and children’s apparel showrooms are open every day.