Retail Veteran Claudia Plant Becomes Hunter’s Chief Marketing Officer
LONDON – Hunter has named luxury retail veteran and co-founder of Net-a-porter Claudia Plant to the role of chief marketing officer with immediate effect.
Plant reports to interim chief executive Paolo Porta, and will be responsible for delivering the business’s global marketing and communication strategy. Hunter said she will work on honing the brand’s positioning “and driving its transformation by developing and implementing a new vision, with current and future customers at the core.”
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Plant has 25 years’ experience in luxury fashion, retail and e-commerce, and is one of Net’s co-founders. She joins Hunter from Burberry, where she served as senior vice president of brand experience. She was responsible for leading the brand and customer experience across all consumer touch points under Christopher Bailey, and Riccardo Tisci, former and current chief creative officers.
Prior to Burberry, she worked at Net for 17 years where she focused on brand vision and customer experience. As global brand creative director, she was responsible for all aspects of brand, and marketing content and creative. There, she led special projects for a variety of brands including Chanel, Gucci and Prada.
Most recently, Plant also served as interim cmo of Charlotte Tilbury Beauty.
Porta said Plant “brings a wealth of experience, which will be hugely beneficial as we drive future growth. Her brand building and digital expertise will be invaluable as we realize the enormous potential of this much-loved British brand.”
Plant said she was eager to join Hunter for “the next chapter. I have enormous respect for the company’s rich heritage and product, which I believe is so relevant for today’s world and consumer, at a time when we are witnessing such a shift in lifestyle and trends.”
Earlier this year, Hunter went through a series of investor and management changes, with the company opting for a recapitalization rather than an outright sale. It also reshuffled management and set a strategic review. The recapitalization saw an existing shareholder, Pall Mall Legacy, become the majority owner. Other investors include Searchlight Capital and Pentland.
In June, Porta, formerly of Jimmy Choo, took over his interim role, while a search for a new, full-time ceo continues to take place. Porta was formerly senior vice president of merchandising and licensing at Jimmy Choo and had worked at Burberry, Stella McCartney and Christian Dior.
Over the summer, the company also began a strategic review “to best position it for long-term sustainable and profitable growth. The review will cover all aspects of the business and, in particular, the huge opportunity for the global e-commerce platform,” Hunter said in June.
