Sportswear giant Nike Inc has hired veteran luxury goods retail executive James Seuss as Chief Executive Officer of the company's Cole Haan brand, effective from May 15th 2006. Cole Haan is a leading designer and marketer of luxury shoes, handbags, accessories and coats.
Seuss, 42, joins the company from Harry Winston, where he was President of the luxury diamond jeweler. Prior to Harry Winston, Seuss was a Senior Executive with Gucci Group, where he established a joint venture with Stella McCartney and ran the London-based fashion house as its first CEO.
Mark Parker, President and CEO of Nike Inc, said, "The Cole Haan brand is an important growth engine for Nike."
"Cole Haan's luxury brand positioning in premium dress and casual footwear and accessories provides us with an exciting growth platform beyond Nike's core athletic market. I look forward to working very closely with James and am confident he is the right person to lead Cole Haan to the next stage of growth," Parker added.
"I am extremely excited to be joining the Nike family and to lead Cole Haan," Seuss said.
"Cole Haan's growth has been impressive and we have extraordinary opportunities to continue to grow the business, particularly in women's footwear and handbags as well as internationally as we expand beyond the US. I am looking forward to collaborating with Mark and Gordon and the tremendously talented Cole Haan team; I share their passion and their commitment to building Cole Haan into a global fashion lifestyle brand," he added.
Based in Maine and NYC, Cole Haan is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nike Inc. It designs and markets luxury shoes, handbags, accessories and coats for men and women under the brand names of Cole Haan, G Series and Bragano.
Cole Haan products are distributed through premium retailers and more than 50 company-owned Cole Haan stores.
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