Fashion & Footwear Industry Moves: April 2018

April 30, 2018: Nike Inc. has announced that Amy Montagne has been named the new VP and GM of global categories, effective immediately. Montagne, a 13-year Nike veteran, has held senior management roles, including, most recently, VP and GM of the global women’s category. She was previously VP, GM of global merchandising and also held positions of increasing responsibility in North America, Women’s Training and Sportswear. She will report directly to Michael Spillane, president of categories and product.

April 27, 2018: Nike Inc. has named Kellie Leonard chief diversity and inclusion officer. Leonard was appointed to the position after Antoine Andrews, VP of diversity and inclusion at Nike, left the company this month. Leonard will report directly to Nike HR chief, Monique Matheson.

April 24, 2018: Mark King, who has served as the president of Adidas North America since 2014, is passing the torch to Zion Armstrong, GM, effective July 1. King spent 35 years at Adidas — where he began his career as a sales representative. From 2003 to 2014, he was CEO of TaylorMade. In June 2014, King relocated to Portland, Ore., to serve as president of Adidas North America. Armstrong joined Adidas New Zealand as a product manager for footwear in 1998 before moving to the company’s headquarters in Germany in 2002. From 2005 to 2014, he held various leadership roles in the Asia-Pacific region, including managing director for Adidas South Korea. Since 2015, he has served as GM of Adidas North America.

April 20, 2018: Salvatore Ferragamo Group has appointed Gucci veteran Micaela Le Divelec as its new chief corporate officer. She will report to Ferruccio Ferragamo. Le Divelec and James Ferragamo, who is also brand and product officer, have been designated as strategic managers of the company together with CFO Ugo Giorcelli. The company’s board also nominated Ferruccio Ferragamo as executive chairman and James Ferragamo vice chairman. The chairman has been granted full power and authority to manage the company.

April 20, 2018: Burberry has named Gavin Haig, formerly CEO of Belstaff, to the newly created post of chief commercial officer. He will begin work on April 23. Haig, who left Belstaff this year, will be responsible for all regions in which Burberry operates and will report to CEO Marco Gobbetti. Before Belstaff, Haig spent a decade at Cartier, where he led commercial teams globally as managing director, international. He has also held senior positions at Alfred Dunhill and Wedgwood.

April 19, 2018: Greg Thompson, Nike Inc.’s VP of footwear, has left the company. The firm has not provided any additional details on the departure.

April 19, 2018: Reebok has appointed Melanie Boulden as VP of marketing. Boulden will lead the brand’s global marketing strategy and execution and will report to Reebok president Matt O’Toole. Boulden was most recently SVP of global marketing at Crayola, and her previous roles include senior marketing positions at Kraft Foods and Henkel.

April 18, 2018: John Targon, creative director of the contemporary division at Marc Jacobs, has left the company a little more than two months after stepping into his role there, WWD reported. The company said working with Targon, who cofounded Baja East, “did not make sense for the brand.”

April 18, 2018: Vikrant Singh, senior brand director for basketball in North America, and Daniel Tawiah, VP of global brand digital marketing innovation, have exited Nike Inc. No further details are available on the nature of the departures.

April 18, 2018: Diane von Furstenberg has named Sandra Campos its new CEO. As former co-president of women’s apparel at Global Brands Group, Campos managed lines such as Juicy Couture, BCBG and Herve Leger, working closely with Nathan Jenden, now DVF’s chief design officer and VP of creative. Campos succeeds Paolo Riva, who left the company in November 2016, and will report directly to von Furstenberg and the DVF board.

April 17, 2018: Stuart Weitzman parent company Tapestry Inc. has tapped former Ferragamo chief Eraldo Poletto as the brand’s new CEO and president. Wendy Kahn, the label’s head, is exiting Tapestry after less than two years in the role. Most recently, Poletto was CEO of Salvatore Ferragamo SpA, and he departed the Italian fashion house in February. Before joining Ferragamo in May 2016, Poletto headed up Furla for six years. He was previously president of strategic development and international business worldwide at Retail Brand Alliance Inc., parent of Brooks Brothers.

April 16, 2018: Nike Inc. VP of diversity and inclusion Antoine Andrews has left the company, a spokeswoman told Reuters. It is the latest in a string of executive departures at the athletic giant. In March, Jayme Martin, VP and GM of global categories, exited the firm just one day after the resignation of Nike brand president Trevor Edwards.

April 16, 2018: Pentland Brands Ltd. has announced several executive team changes with the goal of accelerating its international growth. Matt Rock, global supply chain director, has been appointed president of Asia Pacific and retains his supply chain responsibilities. Carl Davies, global customer director, has been named president of U.K., EMEA and Americas. The new structure is also designed to give brand directors a more direct role in leading brand growth, the company said, with the Speedo, Mitre and Canterbury brands reporting to Davies and the Berghaus brand reporting to COO Chirag Patel. As part of its plan, Pentland is removing the role of global president, active division, held by Chris Stephenson, and the role of global group marketing director, held by Sean Hastings.

April 16, 2018: HBC has hired Bari Harlam to serve as its chief marketing officer, effective immediately. Harlam will lead HBC’s Marketing Center of Excellence, charged with advancing the company’s approach to marketing through data-driven customer insights across its retail banners in North America. Harlam has served in senior marketing roles at BJ’s Wholesale, Swipely and CVS Health, where she built and launched CVS/pharmacy’s ExtraCare program. HBC’s new CEO Helena Faulkes, who joined the firm in February, also came from CVS.

April 13, 2018: French luxury shoe brand Clergerie has appointed Foussi Youcef to the position of global wholesale director, effective May 14. He joins the company from Ann Demeulemeester and Haider Ackermann, where he was merchandiser and sales director for footwear and accessories. Before that, Foussi was wholesale director and merchandiser for footwear at Maison Margiela, where he worked from 2004 to 2016. He will join Clergerie for the upcoming sales campaign of SS19 and will be based in the Parisian headquarters of the house.

April 9, 2018: After more than 30 years at HBC-owned Lord & Taylor — where she started as a dress buyer but ascended to president — Liz Rodbell is leaving the department store at the end of this month. Rodbell has served as Lord & Taylor’s president since 2014 and was simultaneously the president of Hudson’ Bay in Canada, before hanging up the latter hat in June 2017 as part of a leadership reshuffle. A search is underway for Rodbell’s successor.

April 9, 2018: Kering-owned Balenciaga has tapped Daniel Motta Mello to manage its public relations activities in the Americas, the label’s latest move to bulk up business in the region. The former Karla Otto VP is charged with developing the communications department, reporting to Balenciaga’s president for the Americas Vira Capeci. The position had been left vacant for some time as the company restructured. Capeci, who had worked for Céline for nine years, was hired last September in a management reshuffle led by brand CEO Cédric Charbit.

April 4, 2018: Macy’s Inc. has announced that Karen Hoguet, its CFO since 1997, has decided to retire in February 2019, at the completion of the company’s fiscal year. An external search is underway for Hoguet’s replacement, and she will continue in her role as CFO until her successor is appointed. She will then remain in an advisory role to support the company during a transition period until Feb. 2. Hoguet began her career at Federated Department Stores in 1982 and was appointed to her current role in 1997.

April 3, 2018: Neiman Marcus has hired Adam Orvos as its new CFO. He takes over the role held by Dale Stapleton on an interim basis since May 2017. Most recently, Orvos served as CEO of Total Wine & More.

April 3, 2018: DSW Inc. has announced that Drew Domecq has joined the organization as SVP and chief information officer, effective April 2. Domecq will report to CEO Roger Rawlins. He joins DSW from Bob Evans Restaurants. He also spent time at The Wendy’s Co., where he was VP of technology solutions.

April 3, 2018: Berluti has tapped Kris Van Assche as its new creative director, succeeding Haider Ackermann — whose exit was announced on March 30 — in the latest shake-up in the top design ranks at parent company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. The Belgian designer will show his first collection for Berluti in January as head of shoes, leather goods, ready-to-wear and accessories collections. Van Assche recently exited Dior Homme after 11 years at the helm. He was succeeded by Kim Jones in the first big change at Christian Dior Couture since Pietro Beccari arrived as chairman and CEO in February.

April 3, 2018: Galeries Lafayette has named Clara Cornet creative and merchandising director of its future flagship on Avenue des Champs-Elysées, effective since Feb. 1. Cornet, who has been working in the United States for five years with edgy retailers Opening Ceremony and The Webster, reports to Nadia Dhouib, who will manage the new Paris department store. Having started her career as a buyer in the women’s fashion department of Galeries Lafayette in 2012, Cornet joined Opening Ceremony, the concept store founded by Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, in 2013 as senior women’s buyer. She has been working as buying director of The Webster alongside its founder, Laure Hériard Dubreuil, since 2016.