Brands
Levi Strauss & Co.
Levi Strauss has elected Artemis Patrick to serve as a member of the board, effective Feb. 1, as well as the board’s auditing and nominating, governance and corporate citizenship committees, effective Mar. 1. Patrick currently serves as president and CEO of Sephora North America, responsible for shaping the retailer’s strategic growth, vision and financial performance in the United States and Canada. As a nearly two-decade-tenured Sephora veteran, Patrick has held various leadership positions throughout multiple verticals, most recently as serving as merchandising officer for Sephora Americas.
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Ralph Lauren
Lyst-Indexed lifestyle brand Ralph Lauren has promoted Bob Ranftl to chief operating officer, effective Mar. 30, succeeding Jane Nielsen as per the brand’s multiyear succession plan. Ranftl will remain in his current role as regional CEO for North America until then. Mercedes Abramo will succeed Rantfl on Mar. 1. Abramo most recently served as Cartier’s deputy chief commercial officer, having joined Cartier in 2008 as U.S. flagship director.
Retail
REI
REI announced Mary Beth Laughton will join the outdoor specialty retailer as president and CEO. Laughton will start as president in February before officially becoming CEO at the end of March, she shared in a LinkedIn post. Laughton was named head of Nike’s direct-to-consumer business globally in August 2023, previously serving as president and CEO of Athleta for three and a half years.
Mytheresa
German luxury platform e-tailer Mytheresa has nominated Burkhart Grund, Richemont’s CFO, to its supervisory board—subject to Mytheresa’s successful acquisition of Yoox Net-A-Porter from Richemont. The proposal will be presented to the company’s shareholders during a meeting scheduled for early March. Grund started his Richemont career in 2000 as CFO of Montblanc in France, before becoming CFO of Van Cleef & Arpels (and later, the group’s deputy finance director) before his appointment to the senior executive committee as the group’s CFO in 201.
Technology
Ivalua
Cloud-based spending management solution Ivalua’s founder, David Khuat-Duy, is assuming the newly-created role of chief AI officer, passing the CEO position to Franck Lheureux—current chief revenue officer at Ivalua, though Lheureux joined in 2018 as general manager EMEA. Ivalua said these changes reflect the source-to-pay platform’s swelling confidence in generative AI. Khuat-Duy will continue to serve as the board’s executive chairman.
Textiles
Green Theme Technologies
After its successful C series closure, textile finishing company Green Theme Technologies announced it named Courtney Harold as marketing manager. Harold joins with over 25 years of relevant experience in the textile and footwear industries, including her role as a member of the inaugural branding team at Polartec.
Labor
Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI)
Multistakeholder human rights and due diligence organization ETI has appointed Philip Jennings as chair of its board of directors, effective following last December’s board approval. Jennings succeeds Mary Creagh MP, who served as the board’s chair for three years, and has now taken a position as a minister in the British government. Jennings’ career spans four decades, as the global trade union movement leader has worked across various international institutions and corporate boardrooms.
