Alrighty folks, let’s talk about a whirlwind of boardroom seat swaps, because hoo-boy, there’s a lot of musical chairs happening lately! Starting right off with Under Armour (yeah, the athletic gear big shot), they just wrangled in Dawn Fitzpatrick, Eugene Smith, and Robert Sweeney for their board of directors. Gotta love fresh blood, right? But seriously, I’m wondering if they even have space left in that boardroom with all these new faces.
Dawn Fitzpatrick, she’s no stranger to managing fat stacks of cash, being the head honcho over at Soros Fund Management. She’s got her fingers dipped in quite a few advisory pies too. Eugene Smith, the guy’s been kicking around Ohio State University—not literally, but as their senior vice prez and athletic director for nearly two decades. As for Robert Sweeney, he has a solid finance CV, hanging out with big shots at Goldman Sachs before sliding into the president’s seat at Sycamore Partners.
Okay, zipping over to the land of luxury and glam—Christian Dior’s got a fresh paint job with Jonathan Anderson taking the artistic reins for their men’s couture. Word from up top, a.k.a the big boss Bernard Arnault, sealed that deal. Anderson, well, he bid Loewe adieu and is now armed with a paintbrush for Dior, ready to paint the town… Dior? Ah, you get the idea.
Then there’s varsity cheer-wear winners, Varsity Brands (backed by Bain Capital, FYI), adding former footballer Donald Driver into their playbook as their cheer-team-pump-up chap (officially the Chief Motivation Officer, but pump-up chap sounds cooler, doesn’t it?). He’s on board to rally young lassies to stick around in school and sports—underdog stories, yay!
Not to be left out, Jean Paul Gaultier has Duran Lantink shaking up the scene as the new creative overlord, designing everything from everyday get-ups to haute couture masterpieces. Expect some dazzling flair on the runway come September when he unveils the first ready-to-wear magic in yonks at Paris Fashion Week!
And the corporate carousel continues—Vince nabbed Yuji Okumura as their number-cruncher-in-chief (CFO, for the uninitiated). Over at Ulta Beauty, Lauren Brindley is now steering the digital and merchandising ship amidst the scent of retiring farewells from Monica Arnaudo, their preceding. Sorry Walgreens, you lost a good one there!
Finally, the Virgil Abloh Foundation, carrying on the creative legacy after the man himself, has upped Athiththan Selvendran as CCO. The chap’s tasked with guiding the vessel of creative collabs and archiving Virgil Abloh’s innovative spirits. Look out for some boundary-busting projects on the horizon.
All this swapping and shaking—who knows what’s next? Today’s boardroom shifts are tomorrow’s headlines. Stay tuned, and maybe keep a scorecard handy to track all the players in this ever-changing lineup!
