Athletic brand Under Armour announced that Dawn Fitzpatrick, Eugene Smith and Robert Sweeney will join the company’s board of directors. Fitzpatrick has served as CEO of Soros Fund Management, a privately held investment firm, since 2017 and currently sits on the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Financial Sector Advisory Council, the Advisory Council of The Bretton Woods Committee, and the Bloomberg New Economy advisory board.
Smith served as senior vice president and athletic director at Ohio State University from 2005-24, during which he co-chaired the NCAA’s Federal-State Legislative Working Group and participated in the NCAA’s Management Council, among others.
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Since 2019, Sweeney has served as president of private equity firm Sycamore Partners, previously spending 22 years at Goldman Sachs, most recently as a partner and global head of the consumer and retail investment banking group. During his tenure at Sachs, Sweeney provided advisory support to Under Armour, including its initial public offering in 2005.
Luxury conglomerate executive Bernard Arnault told shareholders that Jonathan Anderson has been named artistic director of Christian Dior Couture men’s collections. Before leaving Loewe last month, Anderson served as the fellow-LVMH-maison’s creative director since 2013.
Donald Driver
Bain Capital-owned cheerleading apparel provider Varsity Brands has named ex pro-footballer Donald Driver as Surge by BSN Sports’ inaugural chief motivation officer. In this role, Driver will support the program empowering young women to stay in school and in sports.
The appointment follows the April 11 settlement to pay $82.5 million for an antitrust class action lawsuit alleging Varsity Brands violated federal antitrust laws (among others) in 24 states regarding the monopolization of cheerleading events. In October 2023, Varsity Brands agreed to pay $43.5 million to resolve similar claims filed in May 2020.
Duran Lantink
Piug-owned brand Jean Paul Gaultier has named Duran Lantink as creative director. The house announced its first-ever successor five years after Jean Paul Gaultier retired, with the Dutch designer appointed head of both ready-to-wear and haute couture collections. His debut is set for September’s Paris Fashion Week with the brand’s first ready-to-wear show in over a decade—following prêt à porter’s 2014 shuttering—while his haute couture debut is expected next January.
Contemporary retailer Vince named Yuji Okumura as chief financial officer. Okumura has served as the company’s interim CFO since March and as controller since September 2020, though he joined in 2018 as director of financial reporting. Before Vince, Okumura spent over a decade in public accounting.
Lauren Brindley
The largest U.S. beauty retailer, Ulta Beauty, has named Lauren Brindley as chief merchandising and digital officer, effective June 3. Brindley will succeed Monica Arnaudo, retiring after nearly eight years with the company. In this role, Brindley will be responsible for merchandising, e-commerce, wellness and marketplace strategies, leading Ulta’s assortment brand-building efforts. Brindley most recently served as CEO of Revolution Beauty and previously held senior leadership positions at Walgreens and Boots UK.
Wood-based fiber producer Lenzing elected Patrick Lackenbucher and Leonardo Grimaldi as new supervisory board members and extended the mandate of Stefan Fida. They will serve “until the end of the annual general meeting that adopts the resolution that discharges the supervisory board members acting in the 2029 financial year,” the group said. The elections were due to the expiry of the office terms for Fida and of chairman Cord Prinzhorn, who is stepping down to concentrate entirely on the B&C Group. At the subsequent constituent meeting of the supervisory board, Lackenbucher was elected chairman, Carlos de Almeida was elected first deputy chairman, and Fida was elected second deputy chairman of the supervisory board.
Interlining and inner components producer Chargeurs has added five executives to its expanding team. The global leadership team saw Riccardo Cossu named as general manager of the EMEA region and Laure Sénéquier-Crozet named as general manager of the Senfa Cilander division. The executive team was bolstered with the appointment of Dmitry Fedorov as deputy CIO, as well as Claudia Rovati and Elisabetta Nicoli’s appointments as global sales director and supply chain manager of the shirting division, respectively.
Philanthropic organization the Virgil Abloh Foundation (VAF) has named Athiththan Selvendran as chief creative officer. He is the late designer’s longtime chief of staff and current chief operating officer of Virgil Abloh Securities (VAS). In his “dual capacities,” Selvendran will continue to see the day-to-day operations of VAS—the Virgil Abloh creative nucleus owned by Shannon Abloh—which is also VAF’s corporate counterpart. AS CCO, Selvendran will preserve, catalog and launch the Virgil Abloh Archives, co-lead cultural collaboration efforts and spearhead the creative design process of global initiatives.
