Montreal-based Aldo Group has hired Daianara Grullon Amalfitano for the newly created position of VP of global footwear.
A 20-year industry veteran, Amalfitano was previously at another fast-fashion shoe company: Long Island City, N.Y.-based Steven Madden Ltd., where she was president of specialty brands and international brand manager.
In her new position at Aldo, she will oversee footwear for the company’s brands — including Aldo and Call It Spring — across all channels of distribution in at least 98 countries and lead the firm’s team of global product managers, developers and designers.
Amalfitano will report directly to Aldo CEO Patrik Frisk and serve on the firm’s Executive Board. Frisk told Footwear News via email, “This new position has been created to coordinate our efforts to help drive our product creation across our brands and to align with our continued work to gain ever deeper insight into our end consumer segments, globally.”
Amalfitano said she is eager to share her experience translating fashion trends into sellable product. “I hope to combine my passion for product and focus on building the best design teams in the industry, while never losing sight of the consumer’s needs,” she said.
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As to why she chose to make this move now, Amalfitano said, “After 22 years at Steve Madden, it was an incredibly difficult decision to make. I am a person who seeks and thrives on challenges, growth and opportunity. After meeting with leaders at Aldo, I quickly understood the vision and transformation they were making. The timing was perfect.”
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Fashion Institute of Technology, Amalfitano will relocate her family to Montreal in the coming days and is expected to assume her new role on Feb. 15.
