Who’s in, who’s out, who’s been promoted and hired — FN covers all the industry changes in one place. Know of an executive on the move? Tell us at web@footwearnews.com.
March 9, 2021: Nike Inc. has made changes to its senior leadership team. The sportswear giant announced the appointment of Sarah Mensah, who steps in as VP and GM of North America — a post held for eight months by Ann Hebert until her resignation last week. Mensah formerly served as VP and GM of the Asia-Pacific and Latin America regions — a position that has now gone to 16-year veteran Amy Montagne. Both Mensah and Montagne report to president of consumer and marketplace Heidi O’Neill. What’s more, Aaron Cain has been tapped as VP and GM of men’s. He reports to president of consumer creation Michael Spillane.
March 9, 2021: SoleSavy continued its hiring streak with the addition of Anna Bediones as its director of strategy, women’s. In the role, Bediones — who was featured on the cover of FN in June 2018 — will be tasked with creating a safe and inclusive community for women sneakerheads for the subscription-based sneaker platform. Additionally, SoleSavy stated it will launch its first exclusive women’s community next month. “Anna is one of the most respected voices in the sneaker and style communities,” SoleSavy CEO Dejan Pralica said in a statement. “She’s worked on creative projects with every major brand, retailer, marketplace and publication in the industry. Her unique experience as both a lifelong consumer and creative in the space makes her the ideal leader to help us build the best sneaker community for women and beyond.”
March 8, 2021: Lamo Sheepskin Inc. announced that Edna De Pamphilis has joined its team as marketing director, to oversee all marketing initiatives across the company’s brand portfolio, including Lamo, Oomphies, Après by Lamo and Somersby. De Pamphilis has over 13 years of experience in marketing, primarily spent working directly with brands. Most recently she was global marketing director for Bearpaw. Jerry Breig, COO of Lamo Sheepskin, said in a statement, “[Edna’s] presence has provided a fresh perspective on the goals that we have set over the next year, and we are excited to see her excel in this role.”
March 4, 2021: Subscription-based sneaker platform SoleSavy has tapped Mitchell Holder as its SVP of marketing. Mitchell will be tasked with leading its marketing and brand efforts, which are geared toward empowering sneakerheads and redefining their consumer experience. He will report to CEO and co-founder Dejan Pralica. Prior to SoleSavy, Mitchell most recently was the VP of marketing for the Los Angeles Lakers. “Mitchell has established himself as one of the top marketing leaders in multiple verticals that overlap with the growing sneaker industry,” Pralica said in a statement. “His vision for building world-recognized brands and driving marketing innovation makes him the perfect leader for SoleSavy.”
March 4, 2021: Kate Spade New York is reorganizing its creative organizational structure. The brand has announced the departure of creative director Nicola Glass at the start of April. It has commenced the search for a head of product design, who will lead design across all categories, including ready-to-wear, footwear, handbags, jewelry and licensed categories. During the ongoing search process, the design team will report directly to brand president and CEO Liz Frazer. What’s more, the company has appointed Kristen Naiman, who has served as SVP and brand creative at Kate Spade for the past seven years, to the role of SVP of brand concept and strategy, beginning April 1. She will be tasked with the “creation, publication and socialization” of brand storytelling platforms and will also report to Fraser. Naiman and the head of product design will partner with chief marketing officer Jenny Campbell and chief merchandising officer Michele Parsons.
March 3, 2021: Amazon Fashion has named a new president: Muge Erdirik Dogan will take the reins from Christine Beauchamp, who has held the post starting 2017 and has been promoted to a role that will oversee the e-tail behemoth’s consumer categories in North America. Dogan has spent 13 years at Amazon and led its category, technology and operations teams as well as served as general manager of Amazon Beauty.
March 3, 2021: VF Corp. has tapped Susie Mulder as global president of Timberland. She begins work on April 5, reporting to VF chairman, president and CEO Steve Rendle. Mulder will also serve on the company’s executive leadership team. She was most recently CEO at Nic + Zoe, where she had been in the top spot since April 2012. Prior to that, she was a partner at global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co., where she led the global retail and consumer goods practice for 15 years. The president’s role at Timberland has been vacant since January 2020, when Jim Pisani stepped down.
March 2, 2021: Capri Holdings Ltd. has appointed Alejandro Martinez-Galindo as chief information officer, effective March 8. The new executive previously held senior roles across several industries including retail, automotive and pharmaceutical. Most recently, he served as the CIO of Walgreens. He also held multiple CIO positions at General Motors. In his new post at Capri, Martinez-Galindo will report to EVP, CFO and COO Thomas Edwards. “Alejandro brings significant experience leading global retail digital transformations, large-scale enterprise systems implementations and data analytics innovation,” Edwards said in a statement. “His strong track record over a broad range of industries and focus on driving business results will help accelerate Capri Holdings’ continued digital and e-commerce evolution.”
March 2, 2021: Macy’s Inc. has announced several major changes to its senior management team as part of its Polaris strategy, which was recently updated to reflect its added emphasis on omnichannel growth. Macy’s COO John Harper will depart the company, effective August 1. Subsequently, the role of chief operations officer will be eliminated. With the elimination of the COO role, Marc Mastronardi, chief stores officer, and Dennis Mullahy, chief supply chain officer, will report to Jeff Gennette, Macy’s chairman and CEO. Laura Miller has been appointed chief information officer, effective March. In this role, Miller will report directly to Gennette and will be responsible for the company’s information technology platforms and teams. Most recently, she served as chief information officer of InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG). Miller succeeds chief technology officer Naveen Krishna, who is leaving the company. Marla Beck, Bluemercury Inc.’s CEO and co-founder, will leave the company this summer. Macy’s has commenced a search for a new chief executive officer who, once appointed, will report to Tony Spring, chairman and chief executive officer of Bloomingdale’s. Chuck DiGiovanna, currently vice president, real estate, has been appointed to lead Macy’s real estate function, succeeding Douglas W. Sesler, who is leaving the company. DiGiovanna will report to Adrian V. Mitchell, chief financial officer.
March 1, 2021: Nike Inc. confirmed that Ann Hebert, VP and general manager, North American geography, stepped down — just eight months after she was promoted to the role as part of the Swoosh’s Consumer Direct Offense strategy. Hebert, who leaves the company after 25 years, made the decision to resign, a Nike spokesperson said. The move comes a few days after Bloomberg Businessweek released a cover story featuring Hebert’s 19-year-old son, Joe, who runs a sneaker resale business called West Coast Streetwear. Joe’s experience building the company was detailed in the piece, which examined how young entrepreneurs are capitalizing on the resale boom.
March 1, 2021: Matchesfashion CEO Ajay Kavan has exited the fashion retailer after just one year in the role. Maureen Chiquet, a non-executive director on the Matchesfashion board since 2018 and a Chanel veteran, will run the operation as executive chairwoman during the transition period and “support the teams in overseeing business activities” until a new CEO is named, according to FN sister publication WWD.
March 1, 2021: Inov-8 announced that its founder, Wayne Edy, is back at the helm, returning as its interim CEO. According to Inov-8, Edy purchased the performance footwear brand from Descente in 2020, five years after it was acquired by the Japanese sports clothing and accessories company. Edy’s return comes weeks before Inov-8 will launch a new Graphene-enhanced foam called G-Fly, which it has labeled “the biggest sports footwear innovation of 2021.” (Inov-8 will reveal the first G-Fly product on March 24.)
March 1, 2021: Outdoor Voices has appointed Gabrielle Conforti as CEO. The new chief executive formerly served as chief merchandising officer and president of Urban Outfitters. She joins the direct-to-consumer athleisure label with more than 15 years of experience in the retail industry, including overseeing merchandising and buying across several departments at J.Crew. Her appointment comes about eight months after interim CEO Cliff Moskowitz exited the company and one year since founder Tyler Haney resigned from the CEO post.
Feb. 19, 2021: Shoe Show has tapped Tricia McDermott Thompkins as general counsel. The exec manages the retailer’s legal operations that support its more than 1,100 stores and commercial real estate arm. Thompkins previously served as EVP, general counsel and secretary of Perry Ellis International Inc., where she managed the company’s global legal operations in over 150 countries. Before that, she held senior in-house positions with Office Depot Inc. and Spectrum Brands Inc. Thompkins takes over for Bill Kohler, who is retiring after more than 21 years with the company.
Feb. 16, 2021: Target Corp. is shuffling its C-suite. The big-box chain has announced a number of changes across its executive leadership team: Christina Hennington, who joined Target in 2003, was named EVP and chief growth officer. With Hennington stepping into the new role, Jill Sando, who has spent 24 years at the company, will now lead buying for all product categories as EVP and chief merchandising officer. In addition, Rick Gomez — who most recently served as chief marketing, digital and strategy officer — was appointed EVP and chief food and beverage officer. He succeeds Stephanie Lundquist, who is departing after 15 years with Target. What’s more, Cara Sylvester has been promoted to EVP and chief marketing and digital officer, while Katie Boylan is now EVP and chief communications officer.
Feb. 12, 2021: Jimmy Choo has named Jaime Wynn as president of North America. The executive takes over for Tanya Golesic, who is heading to Michael Kors to be president of women’s. (Both brands are owned by Capri Holdings Ltd.) In her new role, Wynn — most recently VP of wholesale and planning at Jimmy Choo — will report to Hannah Colman, CEO of the brand. “Jaime has been instrumental in Jimmy Choo’s growth in the US. Her extensive knowledge for the brand makes her the ideal choice to lead the region for the next chapter of success. Jaime’s appointment is testament to the strength of talent we have within the business,” Colman said in a statement. Wynn added, “Having been part of Jimmy Choo since 2016, I am thrilled to be taking on this exciting opportunity, it feels like a natural next step for me. I am looking forward to working with Hannah and the entire team to continue the great work achieved by Tanya.”
Feb. 10, 2021: Just a week after announcing that Stefan Larsson had been elevated to CEO of PVH Corp., the New York-based fashion titan has made another executive change: Former Urban Outfitters Group CEO Trish Donnelly will take on the newly created role of CEO of PVH Americas. She will have responsibility for the Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Heritage Brands businesses in the Americas and for the global Calvin Klein brand. Prior to UO, Donnelly also held top posts at J.Crew, Ralph Lauren, Steven Alan and Cole Haan. She joins PVH on Feb. 16 and will report directly to Larsson.
Feb. 1, 2021: Crocs Inc. has announced the appointment of Emma Minto as SVP and general manager, overseeing all operations for its Americas region. The new exec previously spent 16 years at Nike in a range of leadership roles, most recently as VP and general manager of Nike Women’s in North America. She was also the former VP of Nike Direct Global Retail Operations. “[Minto’s] strategic mindset, consumer orientation and leadership style will be a terrific fit for Crocs and a great addition to our senior leadership team,” Crocs brand president Michelle Poole said in a statement.