New Look poaches Esprit boss to head global push

Lex Gemas joins from fashion group Esprit, where he has been head of global retail since 2005.

New Look chief executive Carl McPhail told Retail Week that Gemas had a wealth of proven international expertise that will bring great benefits as the retailer expands abroad. “Esprit has 700 stores in 20 countries across four continents. That is what we aspire to be,” he said.

Gemas has 25 years’ experience gained mainly at US fashion retail powerhouses Nordstrom, Macy’s, Limited Brands and Gap.

McPhail said: “He has a
great background across all disciplines, in all the markets we would like to be in. It is rare to find people who have implemented change at a global level.”

Gemas will take up his role
in June. He replaces Paul Marchant, who left New Look last
year to become chief operating officer of Primark (Retail Week, June 27, 2008).

New Look has also appointed Simon Rider, former chief
executive of Phase Eight, as managing director of its French subsidiary Mim.

Rider replaces Dennis Mok, who parted company with New Look after less than a year in the role. McPhail said Rider, who brings international experience from Adidas and Footlocker, is well placed to deliver growth in the French market, which he described as extremely tough at present. “Mim is an important part of our international business,” he added.

Private equity-backed New Look has ambitions to become a global retail business alongside groups such as H&M and Inditex. As part of its growth programme, it revealed last month that it was relocating its Weymouth head office to central London (Retail Week, January 16).

McPhail said then that a London base would attract the “best talent” and he hoped that 20 per cent of New Look’s sales and profits would come from outside the domestic market within
five years.

Gemas was headhunted for the New Look role by headhunter Heidrick & Struggles.