Informa has announced a series of internal promotions in its fashion division, to streamline operations and unlock new opportunities.
Among the changes, Kelly Helfman, who had been overseeing several of the company’s women’s and footwear trade events (including WWDMagic, Project Women’s, Stitch, PoolTradeShow, Micam Americas and Sourcing @ Magic), has been named commercial president of Informa Markets Fashion. As part of this expanded role, she will now have the additional responsibility for Coterie, Informa’s contemporary women’s division, as well as the men’s division. Helfman will report to Nancy Walsh, president of Informa Markets Fashion.
“Adaptation, innovation, and evolution will be key as we move forward and the industry’s business needs are at the core of our strategic path ahead,” Helfman said in a statement. “We’re fully focused on our customers’ commercial success and, by virtue, advancing our product offering to match their changing business needs.”
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Additionally, Jason Peskin has been promoted to VP of events and corporate development, where he will manage the commercial side of the men’s portfolio, reporting to Helfman for the men’s events and Walsh for commercial development.
And Jordan Rudow has been elevated to VP of events, to handle the commercial side of Informa’s trend-focused and mass-market women’s fashion, as well as its footwear division. She reports to Helfman.
This fall, amid health and safety concerns and travel restrictions due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Informa shifted its in-person fashion trade shows to a digital format, which it is now hosting in partnership with technology company NuOrder through Nov. 1. The digital trade event features at least 1,100 brands exhibiting their current and upcoming collections, and nearly 20,000 retail buyers have signed up to utilize the virtual showrooms.
In a statement today, Walsh said, “We understand and fully embrace the need to continually evolve with and alongside the needs of our customers. Brands and retailers rely on us to create opportunities for them to develop and enrich industry relationships, access meaningful content and actionable business insights not found anywhere else, and most importantly, do business. This year we strategically adapted our business model to continue to deliver on that promise.”
She added that these new executive appointments will help Informa Markets Fashion more effectively execute on its goals with future digital events — and eventually, live trade shows.
Additional personnel changes have been implemented in other areas, including brand development, content and industry insights, and digital marketing. Specifically, the company has created a new Experience and Education division, to provide on-going educational opportunities both on and offline.
