US lingerie retailer Victoria’s Secret has named a new chief executive, effective from September.
Hillary Super has been hired as the new CEO and appointed to the board, succeeding Martin Waters.
Chief financial and administrative officer Timothy Johnson will serve as interim chief executive until September 9, when Super joins the board.
Waters is expected to remain an adviser to the retailer until August 31 to “support a smooth transition”.
Super joins from her most recent role at Rihanna’s lingerie brand Savage X Fenty. She was also previously global chief executive of Urban Outfitters-owned fashion retailer Anthropologie Group.
Victoria’s Secret said in a statement that Super brings almost three decades of retail experience, as well as a “successful track record leading brands at the highest level”.
Super said of her appointment: “I am excited to join Victoria’s Secret & Co, the market leader in the domestic intimates category. The strength of these iconic brands, supplemented by an incredible beauty business, provides numerous opportunities for future growth.
“I look forward to working with Donna [James, chair] and the rest of the board and management team to make Victoria’s Secret & Co the world’s leading fashion retailer of intimate apparel, rapidly expand our cultural influence and create a dominant global market position to grow shareholder value.”
Waters said: “I am proud of what we have accomplished during my time at Victoria’s Secret & Co. We drove international expansion, enhanced our operational efficiency and significantly improved our company culture.
“I want to thank our incredible associates for all their hard work and wish the team the very best for the future.”
James added: “Victoria’s Secret & Co welcomes Hillary as our new CEO to power the business’ next chapter and deliver the foremost tenet of our transformation strategy: accelerating growth in our core business in North America.
“We are particularly impressed with her merchant leadership capabilities, paired with an operator’s discipline and bias for driving value creation. She understands vertically integrated retail brands and has an intuitive understanding of the consumer landscape, informed by customer insights, which are critical for consistently delivering in this industry and its ever-accelerating fashion and economic cycles.
“We are confident that Hillary can leverage Victoria’s Secret & Co’s industry-leading brands with significant category and international expansion opportunities to accelerate growth and create shareholder value.
“We thank Martin for his many contributions to Victoria’s Secret. He has established a foundation for Victoria’s Secret & Co to enter its next chapter, building an inclusive culture, growing our digital platform capabilities, enhancing the customer experience online and in stores, repositioning our international business for growth, and successfully executing our multi-year separation from our former parent company.
“We believe now is the right time to take the next step on our journey with new merchant-operator leadership to fully capitalise on the opportunities ahead for Victoria’s Secret & Co. In the interim, the board will work closely with Timothy Johnson and the leadership team to ensure a smooth transition.”
The news comes alongside the lingerie retailer’s trading update for the second quarter of the year to August 3, 2024, in which net sales and adjusted operating income exceeded previously pledged guidance.
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