After just a year on the job, Lisa Aiken, senior vice president and fashion and lifestyle director at Neiman Marcus, is leaving the luxury retailer on July 1.
Neiman’s executives said Aiken resigned “to pursue other opportunities” and that her role will not be filled.
While disclosing Aiken’s departure, Neiman’s said it created a “strategic integration” between the fashion office and buying teams. Executives said Aiken’s departure was unrelated to the integration. She was not available for comment.
Under the reorganization, Paolo Riva, Neiman’s senior vice president and general manager for brand partnerships and merchandising, has expanded responsibilities to head up Neiman’s women’s fashion office.
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Jodi Kahn has been elevated to vice president of women’s luxury fashion at Neiman’s. She was senior director, divisional merchandise manager of women’s designer ready-to-wear. Her new role gives her buying, merchandising and fashion director responsibilities over women’s. Kahn reports to Riva.
Similar to the women’s side of the business, Russ Patrick, senior vice president and general merchandising manager for men’s, will assume additional responsibilities for the men’s fashion office at Neiman’s.
“Now the fashion office can work in a more empowered way, closer to the buying, closer to our brand partners, to the heart of fashion, closer to our store activations and exclusives,” said Lana Todorovich, president and chief merchandising officer of Neiman Marcus, a division of the Neiman Marcus Group. “More empowerment means being more agile.”
Neiman’s plans to hire an editorial director to provide content across its different channels. Aiken’s role did have an editorial focus.
Aiken, an executive with deep experience in luxury fashion and digital platforms, reported to Todorovich. The integration, said Todorovich, “has nothing to do with Lisa. Her leaving did not ignite a whole new structure.…Lisa is a great talent. Her contributions were great. We wish her well.”
Before Neiman’s, Aiken was the fashion and buying director at Moda Operandi. Earlier in her career, she worked at Net-a-porter and Mytheresa.