Brands
Fendi
Fendi appointed Kim Jones as artistic director of haute couture, ready-to-wear and fur collections for women.
Jones will join Silvia Venturini Fendi, a third-generation Fendi family member, who will continue to create the accessories and men’s wear collections. Jones will maintain his role as artistic director of Dior Men.
Jones will present his first Fendi ready-to-wear collection for the Fall/Winter 2021-22 season during Milan Fashion Week in February.
Marquee Brands
Marquee Brands, a global brand owner, marketer and media company, appointed Neil Fiske as its first CEO.
Fiske has 20 years of brand building experience across various consumer segments, most recently as CEO of the Gap brand. Marquee Brands manages a portfolio with $3 billion of retail sales across 11 brands and four consumer segments.
Prior to Gap, Fisk served as CEO at Billabong International. He also spent five years as president and CEO at Eddie Bauer, and was also CEO at Bath and Body Works.
Owned by investor funds managed by Neuberger Berman, Marquee Brands’ portfolio includes Martha Stewart, BCBG, Motherhood Maternity, A Pea in a Pod and Bruno Magli.
Pentland
Pentland Brands Ltd. announced changes to its executive team. Andy Long, CEO at Pentland Brands Ltd., is joining its parent company, Pentland Group Limited, as a director. He will have responsibility for various activities including the group’s finance, tax and banking relationships.
As a result, Pentland Brands appointed Chirag Patel as its new CEO, having previously served as deputy CEO. In 2016, he joined the Pentland Brands as director of global strategy and then chief operating officer.
Penny Herriman will be joining the business as chief marketing officer. Herriman joins Pentland Brands from White Stuff, where she was customer director. She will be responsible for leading the brand product and marketing teams across the global organization, as well as the in-house creative agency, external communications team and brand digital platforms.
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Jon Godden, chief human resources officer, was appointed chief operating officer and will lead the IT, HR, legal, portfolio, project management and workplace functions. Charlotte Cox, brand director fo team sports, was named president of EMEA. Cox replaces Richard Newcombe, who will take on responsibility for developing footwear opportunities, alongside his ownership of the Lacoste JV relationship.
Dominique Highfield will join as director of finance. Following a restructure of the finance team, the Pentland Brands chief finance officer role is redundant and Katrina Nurse, chief finance officer, will leave the business at the end of September.
Pentland Brands’ core brands include Speedo, Berghaus, Endura, Canterbury, Mitre, Ellesse, Kickers and SeaVees.
Hanesbrands
HanesBrands appointed Kristin L. Oliver to the position of chief human resources officer.
Oliver joins HanesBrands from Walgreens Boots Alliance, where she was senior vice president and chief human resources officer for Walgreens. She has also held chief human resources officer roles at Chico’s FAS and Walmart Inc.
Oliver will have responsibility for all HanesBrands human resources functions globally and will report to CEO Stephen B. Bratspies.
Hanesbrands’ portfolio of brands includes Hanes, Champion, Bonds, DIM, Maidenform, Bali, Playtex, Lovable, Bras N Things, Nur Die/Nur Der, Alternative, L’eggs, JMS/Just My Size, Wonderbra, Berlei and Gear for Sports. The company has approximately 63,000 employees in more than 40 countries.
Oboz Footwear
Oboz announced several new hires and promotions in product, sales and operations to foster its continued growth.
Julie Ham Elliott joined Oboz as national sales manager responsible for helping lead the sales teams, as well as focus on international markets. She has more than 10 years of experience in the outdoor market, including eight years as key account manager at Merrell Footwear.
John Nehring joined Oboz as planning analyst and will be responsible for working to evolve purchasing processes, as well as improving forecasting, ensuring that demand matches supply. He will also be responsible for Oboz factory relationships in terms of purchasing and capacity planning. Nehring joins Oboz from Simms Fishing Products, where he was a production planner.
Oboz also announced two internal promotions. Dan Wehunt was promoted to director of merchandising and development from product line manager, and Steve Lowry was promoted to sales and operational planning manager from sales and operational planning analyst.
Retail
Gap Inc.
Gap Inc. confirmed Mark Breitbard as the head of Gap Global.
Leveraging a deep connection with the brand, including holding leadership positions during the product-led resurgence of Gap’s North America business between 2010 and 2013, Breitbard will focus on Gap, while he continues to lead the company’s franchise, strategic alliances and licensing business, as well as Intermix and Janie and Jack.
In 2017, he rejoined Gap Inc. as CEO and president for Banana Republic and during that time stabilized the business and launched new access points, including a rental subscription service, Style Passport. In addition, he has served as chief merchandising and creative officer of Old Navy from 2009 to early 2010 and has held leadership roles at Gymboree, Levi Strauss & Co. and Abercrombie & Fitch.
Breitbard leaves a strong leadership team in place at Banana Republic. Ann Doyle, general manager of Banana Republic North America, will continue leading, while the company conducts a search for the new head of the brand.
American Eagle Outfitters
American Eagle Outfitters Inc. promoted Jennifer Foyle to chief creative officer, reporting to Jay Schottenstein, executive chairman of the board and CEO.
In addition to her existing responsibilities as Aerie’s global brand president, Foyle’s expanded role includes oversight of merchandising, design and marketing for the American Eagle brand.
Chad Kessler, American Eagle global brand president, will report to her. Foyle has more than 26 years of experience in the apparel retail industry and as Aerie global brand president led Aerie to nearly $800 million in annual revenue in 2019, delivering 21 consecutive quarters of double digit sales growth, with consistent increases in profitability.
She began her career at Bloomingdale’s and held positions of increasing responsibility at Gap Inc. and J. Crew. Prior to joining Aerie in 2010 she was the president of the global lifestyle brand Calypso St. Barth.
Bed, Bath & Beyond
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. appointed Rick Wilkins as regional vice president for the West region.
Wilkins will report directly to Gregg Melnick, executive vice president (EVP) and chief stores officer, and will play a key role in the planning and execution of the company’s store optimization strategy. Wilkins will oversee operations for approximately 300 of Bed Bath & Beyond’s stores across 20 states, and execute the firm’s previously announced store optimization plan that aims to enhance its digital-first, omni-always shopping experience online and in-store.
He will join a cross-functional team responsible for implementing a suite of new store capabilities, including further improvements to buy online, pickup in store, curbside pickup and same-day delivery services. The team also plans a robust reimagination of store operations, including enhanced customer service, improved product assortment and better communication of value in-store, as well as expanded capacity to support faster, more efficient customer order fulfillment in-store or at home.
Wilkins joins Bed Bath & Beyond from Gap Inc., where he was territory vice president for Old Navy. Prior to that, he held roles at Starbucks Coffee Co. and Target Corp.
Textiles
Artistic Fabric Mills
Denim manufacturer Artistic Fabric Mills increased its global team with the appointment of Susan Lawrence as the vice president of sales and marketing for North America and Towonda Vaughns as global design director.
Lawrence began her textile career more than 40 years ago working for American textile mills, developing collections for Carhartt, Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Levi Strauss.
Vaughns has over 20 years of experience in denim design, wet processing, manufacturing, and marketing with extensive knowledge of international markets and global design sensibilities. Originally from New York, Towonda started her career at Tommy Hilfiger with the original Tommy Jeans Team. Over the course of her career she has worked with many denim brands, including Nautica, Aeropostale, DKNY Jeans and Zara, finally moving to Germany to head up the Denim Center at Esprit.
They join Ampelio Dal Lago, who has been the creative director at AFM for 10 years, to continue to evolve AFM’s mission to close the loop on its own manufacturing, using its GRS certified cotton recycling facility. Earlier in 2020, AFM was the first mill to receive Gold Cradle to Cradle (C2C) certification on a recycled denim fabric and also joined the Ellen MacArthur Jeans Redesign project to transform the way jeans are made in the future.
Bruckner
Michael A. Tuschak was named sales director at Brückner Textile Technologies, succeeding Gerd Kolmer, who will focus on market development in selected countries and technologies. Tuschak has been working as a textile engineer for more than 25 years in the sales of textile machines, technical textiles and nonwovens.
Lars D. Hensen is the new service director of Brückner Textile Technologies, taking over the tasks of Manfred Essig, who has retired. Hensen was previously responsible for the North and South American market at Brückner for 11 years as sales engineer.
Logistics
UPS
UPS announced the election of Eva Boratto, chief financial officer and executive vice president of CVS Health, and Wayne Hewett, former CEO of Klöckner Pentaplast Group and of Arysta LifeScience Corp., to its board of directors.
At CVS, Boratto she is responsible for all aspects of the company’s financial strategy and operations. Prior to CVS, Boratto served for 20 years at Merck in executive roles with responsibilities ranging from reporting and planning to controller and investor relations.
Hewett currently serves as a senior advisor to Permira, a global private equity firm; as non-executive chairman of DiversiTech Corp., and as non-executive chairman of Cambrex Corp. Earlier in his career, he spent two decades at General Electric in roles including vice president of supply chain and operations, president and CEO of GE Advanced Materials.
Boratto and Hewett will join the board’s audit committee. These appointments will bring UPS’ total board membership to 15.