As Aéropostale and Pacific Sunwear shut down their stores, teen retailing counterparts Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle continue to take strides in restructuring the once-beloved brands to appeal to Gen Z. Both retailers are snagging executives from top brands to help turn their businesses around.
American Eagle has appointed Kyle Andrew as its new executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Prior to joining American Eagle, Andrew was Head of Global Brand Marketing at Kate Spade LLC, where she helped re-position the company into a billion-dollar global lifestyle brand. Andrew was then asked to lead the envelopment and launch of Kate Spade’s sister brand, Kate Spade Saturday. Andrew’s career has revolved around developing innovative marketing strategies and plans for leading global brands, and she would seem to be a valuable addition to American Eagle as it works to stay afloat in the world of teen retail.
“Kyle brings creative talent, brand vision and a proven track record leading comprehensive global marketing efforts across multiple channels,” said American Eagle CEO Jay Schottenstein in a statement. “Her extensive experience driving successful fashion consumer brands will be immensely valuable as we intensify our customer focus and energize brand experiences across all customer touch points.”
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Abercrombie & Fitch has appointed Stacia Andersen as Brand President of Abercrombie & Fitch and abercrombie kids, and Kristin Scott as Brand President of Hollister Co. Both Andersen and Scott will oversee all product and customer-facing activities for their brands, and will report to the company’s President and CMO Fran Horowitz.
Andersen joins Abercrombie from a 20-year career at Target Corporation, where she was most recently Senior VP of Merchandising. In that role, she also led strategy for Target designer partnerships such as Lilly Pulitzer, Joseph Altuzarra and WhoWhatWear.
For nine years, Scott held senior positions at Victoria’s Secret, most recently serving as Executive VP and General Merchandise Manager. During her tenure, she successfully built the retailer’s Sport and Swim business and led Stores Merchandising.
Abercrombie is currently being run by an Office of the Chairman since CEO Michael Jeffries resigned. The board includes Horowitz, Executive Chairman Arthur Martinez and Executive VP and CFO Joanne Crevoiserat. The company’s Board will be down another member, COO Jonathan Ramsden, in June.
