Reiss has appointed former Next executive Christos Angelides, who had been linked with a role at Marks & Spencer, as its new boss.

Angelides joins the retailer at the end of March. He takes over the chief executive role from founder David Reiss, who remains in place as chairman.

He has not held an executive role since departing Abercrombie & Fitch at the end of 2015, joins the fashion chain as it builds momentum in its growth strategy.

Reiss posted a 55.9% spike in pre-tax profit to £17.8m during the year ending January 31, 2016.

During the crucial Christmas trading period, spanning the six weeks to January 7, total sales rose 19.7%, while UK sales climbed 11.6%.

Angelides spent 28 years at Next, ultimately becoming the retailer’s group product director.

He is widely credited for the transformation of its fashion proposition.

Angelides left in 2014, after 14 years on its main board, to take on the ultimately unsuccessful challenge of turning around Abercrombie & Fitch’s fortunes in the US.

Since returning to the UK, he has taken on a non-executive role at French Connection, but was understood to have been on M&S boss Steve Lowe’s shortlist of targets to head up its struggling clothing division.

He will relinquish his non-executive role at French Connection on February 28 in order to take the reins at Reiss.

Angelides will be joined by Andy Lawrence, who joins the business from Ralph Lauren as its new head of international.

Lawrence held a number of senior roles for Ralph Lauren in Asia including head of Korea and Taiwan.

Angelides said: “I have long admired the strength of the Reiss brand and its emphasis on timeless luxury at an affordable price.

“I look forward to building on the strong foundations that David has built and expanding the business further in both the UK and internationally together with the support of Warburg Pincus.”

Reiss founder and chairman David Reiss added: “I am delighted that Christos has agreed to lead Reiss going forward and look forward to working closely with him in order to ensure an orderly succession.

“He brings significant retail experience which will be invaluable as Reiss grows into a truly global fashion brand.”

Topics