Brands
Gucci
Kering and Gucci have announced that Sabato De Sarno will assume the role of creative director for the house. De Sarno will present his debut runway collection at Milan Women’s Fashion Week in September 2023.
In his new role, De Sarno will lead Gucci’s design studio, reporting to Marco Bizzarri, president and CEO of the brand, leading the creative vision for Gucci’s women’s, men’s, leather goods, accessories and lifestyle collections.
Origin
Origin, a 10-year-old brand producing apparel, footwear and leather goods that are fully sourced and manufactured in the United States, announced Kip Fulks as a full-time strategic advisor and partner.
As co-founder of Under Armour, Fulks helped navigate the Baltimore athletic company’s largest growth years to date. The serial entrepreneur held many roles over his 20 years with Under Armour, including chief operating officer, and head of apparel and footwear innovation.
Under Armour
Under Armour announced the appointment of Carolyn Everson and Patrick Whitesell as members of its board of directors, effective Feb. 1. Also, longtime member Harvey Sanders will retire from the athletic performance brand’s board of directors on March 31. As previously announced, Stephanie Linnartz will join the company as president, CEO and a member of its board of directors effective Feb. 27.
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Sanders has served on Under Armour’s board of directors since November 2004 and is currently chair of the company’s Human Capital and Compensation Committee.
Clarus
Black Diamond Equipment, a manufacturer and distributor of high-performance outdoor equipment, apparel and footwear, and a subsidiary of Clarus Corporation, has appointed Neil Fiske to the role of brand president.
Fiske will be responsible for accelerating growth and lifting profitability by capitalizing on attractive expansion opportunities across various categories, channels and regions. He joins Black Diamond from Marquee Brands, a brand accelerator with a portfolio of 13 brands.
Retail
Shein
Shein has appointed Marcelo Claure as chairman of Shein Latin America. In this new role, Claure will oversee the company’s Latin American strategy and stakeholder affairs in Latin America, working closely with the global e-tailer’s management team. Claure will also lead the formation of an advisory board for Shein Latin America to help provide local expertise, serve as the chairman, and invest $100 million into Shein.
He is the founder and CEO of Claure Group, a multi-billion-dollar global investment firm focused on multiple high-growth sectors in Latin America, including tech, media, real estate and sports. In 2014, Claure sold Brightstar to SoftBank and became the CEO of Sprint, where he led its turnaround and delivered the best financial results in the company’s 120-year history, leading the $195 billion merger between Sprint and T-Mobile. Following the merger, Claure was promoted to CEO of SoftBank Group International, where he had direct oversight of over 40 companies in SoftBank’s portfolio, including ARM, SB Energy and WeWork. He also launched the $8 billion SoftBank Latin America fund in 2019, the largest VC fund in the region.
Kohl’s
The Kohl’s board of directors has unanimously appointed Tom Kingsbury as CEO, effective immediately. Kingsbury has served as interim CEO since Dec. 2, 2022, and will continue to serve on the company’s board.
In connection with this announcement, the company has entered into a cooperation agreement with financial consultant Macellum Advisors and certain of its affiliates, under which Macellum has agreed to a multi-year standstill, voting and other provisions.
Dollar General
Dollar General announced John Garratt’s intent to retire as president and chief financial officer effective June 2. Considering its succession plans, Dollar General will evaluate its options for its next CFO and is not currently conducting an external search.
Garratt joined the company in 2014 as senior vice president of finance and strategy and was named executive vice president and CFO in December 2015. He has served as DG’s president and CFO since September 2022.
Destination XL Group
Destination XL Group, Inc., the integrated commerce retailer of men’s Big + Tall clothing and shoes, announced that Dara Pauker joined the organization as chief operating officer. Pauker brings over 20 years of strategy and leadership experience, with a particular emphasis on growth initiatives, and has been working with the company on a long-range strategic growth plan as a consultant since December, 2021. Reporting to Pauker will be the chief stores officer, chief merchandising officer, SVP global sourcing, and SVP technology.
Trade
The Office of the United States Trade Representative
USTR announced Kenenth Schagrin as the assistant United States trade representative for the office of services and investment. Schagrin has served in several positions at USTR, including most recently as acting assistant United States trade representative for services and investment.
In this capacity, Schagrin is responsible for implementing innovative U.S. trade policy regarding services, digital trade and investment initiatives. His responsibilities include facilitating bilateral investment treaties and relevant policy in the World Trade Organization, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the G20, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the United Nations.
The Retail Industry Leaders Association
The Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) announced that Best Buy CEO Corie Barry will serve a two-year term as chair of the association’s board of directors. In addition, six new leaders were elected to join the board during the group’s semi-annual meeting.
New board members include Michelle Peluso, chief customer officer and co-president of retail, CVS Health; Jeff Owen, CEO, Dollar General Corporation; Ted Decker, chairman, president and CEO, The Home Depot; Steve Smith, president and CEO, L.L. Bean; Pam Stewart, chief customer officer, retail, North America operating unit, The Coca-Cola Company; and Don Unser, president, thought leadership gen merchandise/retail, The NPD Group.
Technology
Onfleet
Last mile delivery management software company Onfleet has named Cory Woolf as chief financial officer. In his new role, Woolf will lead and oversee the company’s finance infrastructure and processes and work to build a back office to support the company’s continued growth. Wolf brings decades of financial and accounting leadership experience to Gap’s delivery partner, specifically in the enterprise/SaaS industry, and excels at high-level strategy and day-to-day operations details.
Textiles
Culp Home Fashions
Culp, Inc. has named Stephen Dudek manager of business development for Culp Home Fashions, the company’s mattress fabrics division.
Dudek has served as an account representative for CHF since 2006, where he has been a regional and national sales representative for mattress fabrics and sewn covers. He will continue to report to Jeff Veach, vice president of business development for CHF.