Trish Donnelly has found her way to The Row, the designer basics brand built by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
Donnelly started on Wednesday and will help steer the business as president, WWD has learned.
The move gives The Row some fresh executive brainpower and gives Donnelly a chance to apply the skills she picked up at a string of major corporations to a well-respected luxury line.
Donnelly was CEO of Calvin Klein Global and PVH Americas during a nearly two-year stint at PVH Corp. that ended last year. Before that she spent seven years at Urban Outfitters Inc., where she rose to lead the Urban Outfitters Group as CEO, and previously held roles at Steven Alan, J. Crew, Cole Haan and Ralph Lauren.
Related Articles
While The Row for the most part is a different, higher-end business, that experience with larger businesses could help as the brand as it continues to grow into its potential, which is seen as considerable.
You May Also Like
The WWD review of The Row’s spring show in September described the offering as both “simple” and “decadent.”
“This collection had one foot in the multimillion-dollar beach house and the other in the city penthouse, with the immaculate tailoring and at-home luxe lifestyle wardrobing that Nancy Meyers Hollywood dreams are made of,” the review said.
The brand might have been founded with some high-wattage celebrity in 2006, but the Olsens are seen as working hard to build the brand — named after the famed Savile Row. In 2012, they received the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s womenswear designer of the year.
But the business has not been without its drama.
In 2019, The Row found itself as the second-largest creditor in the Barneys New York bankruptcy, owed $3.7 million at the time of the filing despite longstanding worries about the retailer’s stability. Former president David Schulte left the business and later filed a sealed lawsuit against the sisters, the company and its parent, Dualstar Entertainment. And the pandemic brought hard times, as it did for many brands, but the business seems to have bounced back.
Now Donnelly is coming in with a fresh set of eyes and a lot of experience for the next leg of the brand’s journey.