Shuffle Board: Changes at Uniqlo, Express and Supreme
Retail
Fast Retailing
Fast Retailing has announced leadership changes for its Uniqlo brand, effective Sept. 1. Board director and global CEO of Uniqlo, Daisuke Tsukagoshi, has been named executive director, president and chief operating officer. Executive director, chairman and president of Uniqlo Tadashi Yanai has been named CEO of Uniqlo, while retaining his positions as executive director and chairman. Yanai will also continue to guide the formulation and execution of management direction for the entire group in his position as the chairman, president and CEO of the company.
Express
Fashion apparel retailer Express announced that Brian Atwood will join the company as creative director of footwear, overseeing women’s and statement men’s footwear. Additionally, he will debut “Brian Atwood for Express,” an exclusive shoe collaboration with the brand, launching immediately.
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Rack Room Shoes
Rack Room Shoes has named Randolph Brodwin as its new senior vice president and chief legal officer. In this new role, Brodwin will lead the company’s legal team, overseeing a range of legal aspects including compliance, strategic development, litigation, commercial transactions, intellectual property, privacy and risk mitigation. With nearly three decades of corporate legal and business expertise, Brodwin is set to play a key role in guiding Rack Room Shoes through its next phase of growth.
Genesco
Genesco, the parent company of teen fashion retailer Journeys, announced that Journeys Group president Mario Gallione has planned to retire at the end of the company’s fiscal year, with an expected date of February 2024. During the transition, Gallione will become Journeys’ president emeritus. Mike Sypert has been named Journeys’ chief operating officer, responsible for aiding the transition of leadership as well as assuming day-to-day responsibilities for Journeys, Journeys Kidz and Little Burgundy’s business, including stores as well as websites in the U.S. and Canada.
Ross Stores
Ross Stores has announced changes to its board of directors. George Orban will step down as chairman of the board while continuing to serve as an independent director. Michael Balmuth, currently a strategic adviser to the company, will return to the executive chairman of the board role. K. Gunnar Bjorklund will become lead independent director.
Brands
Supreme
VF Corp.-owned streetwear brand Supreme’s creative director Tremaine Emory has left the company over allegations of systematic racism. VF Corp. confirmed in a statement to Sourcing Journal that Emory has indeed left, though “strongly disagrees” with Emory’s characterization of the company and the handling of the Arthur Jafa project, which has been canceled. This was the first time in 30 years that the company brought in a creative director, VF Corp. said, and it’s “disappointed it did not work out.”
Designer Brands Inc.
Designer Brands announced that William “Bill” Jordan, the president of the company as well as president of Camuto, will step down from his positions on a date that is expected to be on or before Dec. 1, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Crocs
Footwear brand Crocs has announced that Erinn Murphy was named senior vice president, investor relations and corporate strategy. Murphy will join the Enterprise leadership team, effective Sept. 5, reporting directly to the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, Anne Mehlman.
Murphy joins the organization from the investment bank Piper Sandler. She has nearly 20 years of experience in the financial industry and a proven track record of research performance. Murphy built her career on Wall Street as an equity research analyst, leading Piper Sandler’s global lifestyle brand coverage across nearly 30 stocks, including Crocs.
Textiles
Origin Materials
Carbon-negative materials company Origin Materials has named Pam Haley as interim chief financial officer, effective immediately. Haley succeeds Nate Whaley in the role on an interim basis, pending the appointment of a long-term CFO following an extensive search and vetting process led by an executive search firm. Whaley will hold an advisory role within Origin through the end of the year to assist the company with the search for and onboarding of his successor.
