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Leadership Changes
External C-level and CEO hires accelerated in the last month of the quarter, up 26% from August.
Notable CEO appointments included:
- Nike made headlines as John Donahoe exited, and the company brought back former intern-turned-executive Elliott Hill as its new CEO.
- Montblanc appointed former Stuart Weitzman top executive Giorgio Sarné to succeed Nicolas Baretzki.
- Tod’s tapped John Galantic, Chanel’s former COO & President, to replace Founder Diego Della Valle as CEO.
- Tonal hired Petco’s former Chief Customer & Marketing Officer Darren MacDonald for its top role.
Additional CEO changes included: Bevi, Central Garden & Pet, Fear of God, Fossil, Fusalp, IPSY, La Redoute, Marolina Outdoor, Noyz, Pretty Little Thing, Proenza Schouler, Rite Aid, Skinfix, Tillys, The Body Shop, The Rug Company, Vhernier, WW International, and Zappos.
A few of fashion’s high-profile Creative Director seats were filled. Tom Ford tapped Haider Ackermann and Givenchy tapped Sarah Burton, while Valentino’s Alessandro Michelle era officially kicked off with his runway debut.
Financing/M&A
Investor activity picked up in September, with deals including:
- Kendra Scott sold a minority stake to 65 Equity Partners.
- The Row sold a minority stake to a group of family offices including Mousse Partners (Chanel’s Wertheimer family) and Tethys Invest (L’Oréal’s Bettencourt-Meyers family).
- L Catterton acquired stakes in skincare company Stenders (majority), fragrance brand Vyrao (minority), and pilates chain Solidcore (majority), all within the month.
- LVMH gained a seat on Moncler’s board after buying a 10% stake in Double R, the investment vehicle of Moncler CEO Remo Ruffini.
Meanwhile, beauty darling Rare Beauty halted its sale process, calling into question its $2 Billion valuation in a choppy M&A environment.
Tapestry and Capri Holdings squared off with the FTC in federal court over their proposed $8.5 Billion merger, exposing realities about the competition for handbag sales in the TikTok and Taylor Swift era.
Bankrupt brands made expedient exits. LL Flooring secured last-minute funding from F9 Investments, staving off liquidation. Big Lots and Blink Fitness secured buyers in less than 30 days, inking deals with Nexus Capital Management and KKR-backed PureGym, respectively. Rite Aid also emerged from bankruptcy, axing about $2 Billion in debt.
Industry News
Retailers and investors rejoiced as the US Federal Reserve made its first interest rate cut in four years, lowering interest payments on credit card balances and other forms of debt.
Fashion month was alive and well, fresh with an influx of capital from mass-market brands. With runway shows estimated to cost a minimum $300,000 post-pandemic, many events featured partnerships with non-fashion collaborators with deep pockets, including Walmart, Campbell's Goldfish Crackers, Samsung, Lovesac, Old Navy, eBay and Hellmann’s Mayo.
Eyewear was trending, with Canada Goose, Stuart Weitzman, and Florence by Mills launching in the category, while Big Tech's smart eyewear partnerships regained steam. Huge glasses were trending on fashion runways, too. Goodbye it-bags, hello it-glasses?
Amazon lit up the return-to-office conversation, calling employees back to the office five days per week starting in 2025. Starbucks’ new super-commuter CEO Brian Nichol weighed in on the debate, saying employees "should be together as much as possible." The Economist agreed, proximity matters.
Holiday shopping kicked off earlier than ever. From back-to-school shopping in July to “summerween” promotions in August, and everyone from Lego to La Mer dropping Advent calendars in September, retailers found creative ways to push end-of-year shopping throughout the end of summer.
Earning Reports
The high cost of turnaround plans made headlines this month after H&M warned it would miss key profitability targets, Under Armour lowered its fiscal year outlook after incurring larger-than-expected costs for its restructuring plan, and Stitch Fix said it would take another two years to return to growth amid transformation efforts.
Top-Clicked Articles
Of the ~500 article links we curated in September, the top clicked articles were:
- A deep dive into the Nike CEO’s troubled legacy, starting with The Panda Dunk (Bloomberg)
- What PE Firms Look for in Hiring Retail Leaders (KPA)
- Gen Z moves on from ‘Googling’—TikTok emerges as the new search engine (Fortune)
- Amazon Tells Workers to Return to Office Five Days a Week (WSJ)
- Pants are so over (Highsnobiety)
Executive Placements
We are an executive search partner to the world's most compelling brands. This month, our placements started at:
- Carhartt (Brand Marketing)
- Eighth Day (Branding)
- Gorilla Commerce (Growth)
- Lafayette 148 (Merchandising)
- MeUndies (Sales)
- Newell Brands (Retail & DTC)
- Ten Thousand (President)
- Tory Burch (Buying, Planning, & Wholesale Sales)
- Under Armour (Design)
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