In two key appointments, contemporary brand Vince has named Terence Bogan, senior vice president of retail and Tomoko Ogura, vice president, brand director, WWD has learned.
Both executives have track records in high-end retailing.
Bogan will oversee the Vince retail business including merchandise assortment, store operations and visual merchandising. He will work closely with brand cofounders Rea Laccone and Christopher LaPolice to ensure strategic store placement and improve the customer experience.
Bogan was vice president of women’s wear at Holt Renfrew, and earlier spent nearly 18 years with Barneys New York, working for the Co-Op stores, which are now defunct, Barneys outlet stores, and held a variety of executive positions, ending as vice president and divisional merchandise manager of women’s wear. He was integral in building Barneys contemporary/luxury brands category, which included Vince. Bogan began his career at Saks Fifth Avenue as a management trainee.
Ogura will lead the marketing, public relations and creative teams and work with wholesale, retail, e-commerce and international business development teams to elevate the visual presentation of Vince product across all platforms. In addition, “she will closely liaise with footwear and accessories partners ensuring a consistent creative message across all product categories,” the company said.
Ogura joins Vince after nearly 12 years at Barneys New York where she oversaw fashion merchandising and brand development and helped nurture new designers. As senior fashion director, a position she held for over four years after holding merchandising and fashion roles, Ogura identified seasonal trends, analyzed selling patterns, worked with designers to develop exclusives and conceptualized fashion stories for digital campaigns. She also acted as “brand ambassador,” by participating in industry panels and hosting events on behalf of Barneys.
“They have been long supporters of Vince and drivers of its past success in their prior roles,” Brendan Hoffman, chief executive officer of Vince, told WWD. “Late next month, we will ship the first collection that recaptures the DNA of Vince, so the timing couldn’t be better to have Terence and Tomoko help lead the efforts to grow the brand again.” The line will be the first developed by the brand’s founders since they returned to the company last fall as consultants. Aside from bringing back the founders, restoring the DNA entails utilizing factories and fabrics that haven’t been used for some time, among other efforts.
Hoffman noted that while Bogan and Ogura take on responsibilities that were held by executives that left the company, the jobs have evolved with additional responsibilities “to best fit the brand we are becoming,” Hoffman said.