Department store chain Macy’s announced the appointment of a new independent director, Robert Chavez, to its board of directors, effective April 1. Chavez has spent his 45-plus year career in retail, focusing on the luxury space. He most recently served for 24 years as president and chief executive officer of Hermès Americas society’s division. Before that, he was CEO of the Munich-based luxury house Etienne Aigner Group for eight years. Chavez began his retail career in Bloomingdale’s “executive development” program and later moved to Macy’s as a divisional merchandising manager.
Macy’s also announced that Sara Levinson will not stand for reelection at the company’s 2025 annual meeting of shareholders, in accordance with the mandatory retirement age.
Baby and children’s apparel company Carter’s announced that Michael Casey is retiring as chairman and CEO after over 15 years in the role and more than 30 years with the retailer. Richard Westenberger will serve as interim CEO, on top of his responsibilities as senior executive vice president, CFO and COO. William Montgoris, lead independent director, was appointed non-executive chairman of the board of directors.
Casey will serve in an advisory capacity until Feb. 28 to support the transition. A comprehensive search for a new CEO—focused exclusively on external candidates—is underway.
Tilly’s
Specialty retailer Tilly’s announced the appointment of Michael Relich to its board ofdirectors. Relich has more than 40 years of experience in retail, most recently serving as the co-CEO of PacSun. He also recently served as a member of the board for PSEB LLC, a privately held company that owns PacSun and Eddie Bauer, where he also held positions as its interim CEO and chief operating officer. He currently serves on the advisory board of several technology companies.
Darren McKoy at the Dr. Martens x A-COLD-WALL* launch at London’s Reference Point on December 2022.
Dr. Martens’ creative director, Darren Mckoy, has stepped down, according to a LinkedIn post, to pursue other “creative challenges.” The British boot brand did not respond to Sourcing Journal’s request for comment. Mckoy joined the company 10 years ago, starting as the global category manager of footwear. He then served in a few roles, including product and merchandising director, before landing on creative director in 2021. The news broke the same day that Ije Nwokorie officially became CEO.
Brixton
Nadene Wisely
Omnichannel lifestyle brand Brixton hired two new high-ups. Nadene Wisely joins as senior vice president of merchandising, design and development. In this new role, she’ll lead Brixton’s product strategies to strengthen the brand’s sway. Sean Fleuriau joins as senior director of specialty sales for North America, focusing on the branded wholesale space.
Footwear-focused firm Genesco named Kyle Polischuk as chief human resources officer. In this newly created role, Polischuk will leverage her 20-plus years of strategic human resources experience to oversee Genesco’s HR initiatives, including talent management and recruitment, leadership development, performance management, employee engagement and total rewards. Polischuk will report to Vaughn and serve on Genesco’s executive management committee.
Laura Weir attends Netflix’s annual BAFTA Awards afterparty at London’s Chiltern Firehouse in February 2023.
UK-based Nonprofit the British Fashion Council announced that Laura Weir will succeed Caroline Rush as chief executive officer, effective April 28. The Selfridges executive will oversee and be the liaison between BFC’s various departments to further the London Fashion Week organizer’s founding mission. Rush, BFC’s leader since 2009, will remain on through June to close out the financial year and have sufficient time for succession plans as part of the BFC’s governance.
Sustainability trade group Textile Exchange announced that Alfredo Ferre and Cecilia Strömblad Brännsten became board members as of Jan. 1 while noting co-founder Marci Zaroff will remain as board chair for another year. Ferre served as Recover’s CEO for nearly four years before stepping back last February into the newly created role of chief product and innovation officer.
Alfredo Ferre is the Chief Product, Innovation and Sustainability Officer at Recover™, a leading materials science company and global producer of recycled cotton fibers and cotton fiber blends. He’s also chairman of the board for recycled yarn spinner Hilaturas Ferre. Brännsten is H&M Group’s head of resource use and circularity. She’s been with the group since 2004 in various roles, most recently as environmental sustainability manager.
UK-based corporate climate action organization the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has named sustainable stalwart David Kennedy as chief executive officer. Kennedy succeeds Sue Jenny Her, SBTi’s chief legal officer who has served as interim CEO since Luiz Amaral resigned last summer, citing personal reasons. Kennedy serves as a corporate sustainability partner at EY and the founding CEO of the UK’s Committee on Climate Change. In this new role, Kennedy will lead the SBTi—including its target validation subsidiary.
Walmart-owned India-based e-commerce platform Flipkart has named Kabeer Biswas as head of operations, as reported by TechCrunch, to expand its quick-commerce efforts in the country. Biswas co-founded Indian delivery startup Dunzo in 2014 and considered a merger with Flipkart last year, per TechCrunch. Biswas will allegedly lead Flipkart’s quick-commerce effort, Flipkart Minutes; however, Walmart did not respond to Sourcing Journal’s request for comment.
Beontag
Alejandro Quiroz Centeno
Self-adhesive and smart tag manufacturer Beontag has named Alejandro Quiroz Centeno as its new chief executive officer. He replaces outgoing CEO Ricardo Lobo, who is leaving the company after nine years. Quiroz Centeno joins Beontag as a seasoned international business executive covering a range of industrial sectors. He will oversee Beontag’s global footprint across 40 markets, with a focus on the company’s ongoing investment and expansion into North America. Prior to Beontag, he served most recently as CEO of Latin America for Prysmian, an Italy-based world leader in the energy and telecommunications industry.
Textiles
Dimension-Polyant
The world’s reportedly largest sailcloth producer and waterproof laminates manufacturer, Dimension-Polyant, has named James Lang as sales manager for its X-Pac Tactical brand of fabrics. Lang drives sales growth in his new role, engaging with the tactical, military, hunting and outdoor gear markets. Based out of the company’s stateside outpost, Lang will work with the technical fabrics team and leadership to manage key accounts and develop strategic partnerships to expand the brand’s reach.
