The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
British fashion retailer Superdry said on Wednesday its co-founder and interim Chief Executive Officer Julian Dunkerton would take the top job on a permanent basis and appointed industry veteran Silvana Bonello as its chief operating officer.
Dunkerton, Superdry’s biggest shareholder with a 20.3% stake, rejoined the company’s board in April last year after narrowly winning a shareholder vote, prompting the existing directors, including then CEO Euan Sutherland, to resign en masse.
The company, known for its hoodies and jackets featuring Japanese text, is attempting a turnaround under Dunkerton who founded the firm in 2003 along with James Holder, but left in 2018 because he could not “put his name to the strategy”.
Bonello, who will join the company in March, spent 18 years at Nike and was most recently the VP of operations for Vans EMEA.
The company also said Chairman Peter Williams would be stepping down next year, after less than two years in the role, once a successor is appointed.
His exit comes after the departure of Chief Financial Officer Nick Gresham, who stepped down in October, after only 16 months in the role.
“With the search for a new CFO well advanced, the completed executive team will be in place early next year and so 2021 is an appropriate time for me to step down,” Williams said.
Dunkerton’s appointment replaces his interim contract, which was due to expire in April 2021, Superdry said.
By Tanishaa Nadkar; editor: Aditya Soni.
At the Vancouver-based yoga lifestyle juggernaut, being Black is ‘off brand,’ according to months of reporting by BoF’s Sheena Butler-Young.
Discover the most exciting career opportunities now available on BoF Careers — including jobs from PVH, Cos and Holzweiler.
Like many companies in fashion and other industries, the $50 billion yoga apparel brand created a new department in 2020 it said would help improve its diversity and inclusion and create a more equitable playing field for minorities. In interviews with BoF, 14 current and former Black employees said things have only worsened since then.
BoF Careers provides essential sector insights for fashion designers this month, to help you decode fashion’s creative and commercial landscape.