Spanx Appoints Kim Jones CEO, Expands Executive Team
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Spanx, the Atlanta-based womenswear brand founded by Sara Blakely, has strengthened its executive team and named Kim Jones as chief executive officer. Most recently Jones was Spanx’s president and chief financial officer.
Jones has a 15-year tenure at Spanx, with a two-year break as CEO of Sweetwater Brewing Co. She became Spanx president in 2018 and earlier in her career held finance posts at Ernst & Young, The Coca-Cola Co. and EarthLink.
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The Spanx brand, founded in 2000, was an early pioneer in the shapewear category and has since grown into a lifestyle brand offering activewear, apparel, denim, intimates, swimwear, leggings, shapewear and hosiery. Its products are sold worldwide in more than 50 countries.
Sara Blakely, founder and executive chairwoman of Spanx, said: “Kim has worked for Spanx for 15 years and, in addition to serving as CFO and president, she has been instrumental in the company’s growth from start-up to the category-defining, digital-first apparel brand it is today. Her love and deep understanding for the brand and the customer make her the perfect fit (no pun-intended) for the job.”
Jones worked alongside Blakely to secure Spanx’s first outside investment last year when funds managed by Blackstone agreed to buy a majority stake in Spanx at a valuation of $1.2 billion. At the time, it was reported that Blakely maintained a significant equity stake in the business and continued to oversee daily operations, becoming the executive chairwoman. The investment was done to enable Spanx to accelerate its digital transformation and online presence in the e-commerce channel and expand its global footprint and add more categories.
Additional investors included Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Whitney Wolfe Herd, as well as female-founded investment funds G9 Ventures, founded by Amy Griffin and Able Partners.
According to Blakely, “Kim is one of those right brain, left brain leaders. She has a deep understanding of the operating side of the business and financial disciplines and has great instinct for the customer. I’ve learned so much from her over the past 15 years and have loved having her as a thought partner. I’m excited about the growth ahead, and I’m confident she is the right leader to take Spanx to the next level.”
“I am honored that Sara, Blackstone and our board have placed their trust in me in this incredibly exciting new chapter in the company’s growth journey. I am so proud to lead this class of executives that is joining our already exceptional team of leaders,” said Jones.
“Our customers know us for best-in-class products, but what they may not realize is that we have a best-in-class team behind it all. With these appointments, we are doubling down on our commitment to the customer experience, fueling our growth trajectory and ensuring we have top talent to support the company’s long-term vision. I look forward to stepping into this new role and am so excited about the opportunity that’s ahead for Spanx,” added Jones.
Caroline (Cricket) Whitton has been promoted to president and will continue in her role as chief growth officer. She joined Spanx in 2017 and has led the brand’s digital transformation earning 9X growth during her five-year tenure at the brand. Earlier, she worked in digital roles at Wayfair and Design Within Reach.
As president, she will oversee revenue and growth efforts globally including e-commerce, wholesale, growth marketing, international, digital product innovation and customer experience.
Misha Nonoo has joined Spanx as chief brand officer. She had been CEO and creative director for her eponymous women’s ready-to-wear line since its founding in 2011. Her business will continue to run under separate management by a chief operating officer, and Nonoo will remain founder.
Nonoo will be tasked with shaping the creative vision and strategy for the company going forward. She will leverage her fashion expertise and deep industry knowledge to accelerate the growth of the brand globally, bringing a fresh point of view to the legacy of Spanx.
In her new role, she will head up brand strategy, creative content and marketing across the business, at a time when the company’s apparel category has taken off and further growth is planned.
Nonoo has been innovative in the sustainability space and was a finalist in the 2013 Vogue/CFDA Fashion Fund. She has also been named to the Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Art & Stylist list and to Crain’s New York Business’ 40 Under 40 in 2015. Her fashion business, which is direct-to-consumer, is known for the Husband Shirt.
In other appointments, Martin Elliott has been named chief financial officer, overseeing all financial functions at the company. Most recently he was CFO at MGA Entertainment, a global manufacturer of toys and entertainment products, where he drove profitable growth and corporate development initiatives, in addition to guiding business strategy. Elliott joins Spanx with over 25 years of experience in financial planning and analysis, M&A and operational control and reporting, including as a strategic and business planning executive at Mattel, Inc. and The Walt Disney Co.
Coco Lu has been named chief people officer, overseeing all talent and human resource functions at the company. She began her career at Philips Electronics and Unilever and joins Spanx after a 15-year tenure with The Coca-Cola Co., serving most recently as global human resources director for their technical, innovation and supply chain function.
Nonoo, Elliott, Lu and Whitton report to Jones.
Within the last year, Lisa Kulson, chief creative officer, and Kiana Miree, chief merchandising officer joined the senior leadership team. Miree joined Spanx in 2016 and has led the company’s category expansion into apparel and activewear. Kulson joined Spanx in 2021, having been senior vice president, creative director for the women’s collections at Theory. This month, Spanx introduced its first dresses: The Perfect Sheath Dress, The Perfect A-Line 3/4 Sleeve Dress, and The Perfect Fit & Flare Dress.
Kulson, Miree and Keith Miller, chief information officer, also report to Jones.
Discussing why they made so many appointments all at once, Jones told WWD, “We’ve been growing rapidly with our expansion into apparel and really our digital transformation.” She said last year they were operating in a start-up mode and so many leaders were wearing so many hats, “myself included.”
“With our partnership with Blackstone that was completed in November of last year, one thing that was so important to me in making sure we were really ready to start scaling our growth, was building up the leadership team first. We’ve really doubled the size of our executive team, and it’s the perfect balance between tenured leaders like myself…and these amazing leaders we’ve brought in from industry who will be helping us scale our vision as we move forward,” said Jones.
Asked how current business was performing, Jones said, “We’re having a really successful year and continuing to drive double-digit growth.” She said they started a digital transformation in 2016, and their efforts have grown their business across all channels. “That coupled with our movement and our category extensions into activewear and apparel have driven significant growth for the brand,” she said.
At present, two-thirds of Spanx’s business is done online.
When asked if there are plans to ultimately go public, Jones said that as a brand from Day One, “We’ve always kept all of our options open. We’re a brand that believes in aiming high and setting high goals for itself.”
