Brands
LVMH
At its next annual general meeting, to be held on April 20, LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton will propose the appointment of Laurent Mignon as a new member of its board of directors. Since last December, Mignon has served as chairman of the executive board of Wendel, a European-listed investment firm. In addition to his functions within the Wendel Group, Mignon is vice-chairman of the board of directors of Bureau Veritas.
Amiri
Luxury denim brand Amiri has named Adrian Ward-Rees CEO, effective April 1. Ward-Rees joins Amiri from Burberry, where he was senior vice president for the past three years. Before that, he held the position of managing director at Dior Homme. He brings 30-plus years of knowledge and experience in the fashion and luxury goods sector to his role. Ward-Rees’ vision is to embrace Amiri’s California luxury identity while increasing global awareness and building a culture of innovation and elegance.
Founder Mike Amiri will focus on his role as creative director, exploring and developing the accessories and womenswear lines as well as new categories.
Related Stories
Allbirds
Allbirds announced the appointment of Annie Mitchell as chief financial officer (CFO), effective April 24. She will succeed Mike Bufano, who will remain with the company through mid-May to facilitate the transition.
Mitchell joins Allbirds from Gymshark, where she served as vice president of finance and insights. Before that, she spent 10 years at Adidas, where she held various positions within the finance organization, most recently serving as senior vice president of finance of Adidas North America.
Hanesbrands
Hanesbrands has named Lorenzo Moretti president of Champion Europe. He will drive growth in the Champion brand across Europe, focusing on continuing to elevate the brand by delivering innovative products and building brand desire. He will lead the Champion Europe direct-to-consumer business and build the company’s position in wholesale channels. Moretti will join the apparel company in July and be based in Carpi, Italy.
He joins HanesBrands from Dr. Martens – Airwair International Ltd, where he was EMEA president, delivering significant revenue and earnings growth while expanding in new and existing markets. Moretti led the overhaul of the company’s product and marketing strategy, focusing on the consumer.
REI
REI Co-op hired Apple Musni as its chief people officer effective March 20 and promoted two employees. Chris Speyer has been promoted to senior vice president, chief merchandising officer, and Isabelle Portilla has been promoted to vice president, co-op brands, both effective immediately.
Musni will be responsible for REI’s people-first strategy, leading the teams that shape the co-op’s compensation and benefits offerings, provide HR business partnerships to teams across the company, design innovative talent strategies and advance the co-op’s racial equity commitments.
Wolverine Worldwide
Wolverine announced that its chairman and retired CEO, Blake Krueger, will be retiring from the board on May 4. Tom Long, the board’s lead independent director, has been appointed to succeed as chairman.
Long joined Wolverine Worldwide’s board in 2011 after a 30-year career that included serving as CEO of MillerCoors, CEO and chief marketing officer of Miller Brewing Company, and several senior global and marketing roles at Coca-Cola. He was appointed lead independent director of Wolverine Worldwide’s board in 2022 and previously served as compensation committee chair.
Retail
John Lewis
Sharon White, chairman of The John Lewis Partnership, announced that Nish Kankiwala, a non-executive director of the British retailer since April 2021, will become CEO on March 27, remaining a Partnership board member. The chairman will be accountable for all aspects of the Partnership’s performance, purpose and approach to pursuing a better way of doing business.
Five Below
Value retailer Five Below announced that Kenneth Bull, CFO and treasurer, has been promoted to chief operating officer. The company will search for a new CFO, and Bull will continue to serve in this role until it is filled. Bull has served as CFO and treasurer since 2012, having joined Five Below as senior vice president, finance, in 2005. Previously, he served in various finance roles at other retail organizations, including Urban Outfitters.
Shoe Carnival
Family footwear and accessories retailer Shoe Carnival announced that Erik Gast has been named the company’s executive vice president, CFO, effective April 24.
Gast succeeds W. Kerry Jackson, who will be retiring after a 35-year career with the company. Jackson will continue to serve as the company’s senior executive vice president, CFO and chief administrative officer and treasurer until April 24. He will remain as chief administrative officer until his retirement on May 9 to assist with the transition.
Technology
Nautical Commerce
Headless dropship and multi-vendor marketplace platform Nautical Commerce announced the expansion of its executive leadership team with the appointments of Roxann Dye as vice president of partnerships and Tyler Nemiro as vice president of sales. Dye and Nemiro will help Nautical expand its foothold in B2B and B2C multi-vendor commerce technology.
Ingenico
Payments acceptance solutions provider Ingenico announced the appointment of Laurent Blanchard as president and CEO, and a member of the supervisory board, effective April 3. He will lead Ingenico’s efforts to accelerate its transformation and take its Android Axium range of solutions, its terminal-as-a-service (TaaS) leadership, and its cloud-based payments-platform-as-a-service (PPaaS) strategic initiatives.
Gerrard Schmid and Rolf Stangl will step down as co-CEOs and will continue as members of Ingenico’s supervisory board.
OrderMyGear
Online shopping platform for selling custom branded merchandise to groups, OrderMyGear, announced Mykayla Goodwin as vice president of strategy. She will play a pivotal role in identifying growth opportunities for OMG and guiding company strategy through market research and strategic planning.
Since joining OMG in 2019, Goodwin has built the product marketing function and supported the OMG team in multiple roles, including marketing, product management and strategy. Following the recent acquisition, she is currently leading the integration of OMG and BrightStores, bringing together two market-leading technology platforms in the sporting goods and promotional products space.