Dive Brief:
- Adding to its product team, Allbirds named Jason Israel to the position of vice president of design, effective June 1, per a company press release.
- Israel previously was global creative director for the Salomon sporting goods brand and has nearly two decades of design experience at brands including The North Face and K2 Sports. In his new role, Israel will assist in elevating the design culture as Allbirds looks to reinvigorate its product assortment.
- Israel reports to the brand’s chief design officer, Adrian Nyman, who joined the company in December. Israel joins a design team that also includes new color and materials leader Ailsa Cordon-Michell, who joined with experience from The North Face and Burberry.
Dive Insight:
The addition of Israel to the leadership team comes at a time when Allbirds is attempting to reenergize its brand.
“We are thrilled to have Jason join our design team at this pivotal time for Allbirds, when product and storytelling are paramount to our return to growth,” CEO Joe Vernachio said in a statement. “He is already bringing a passion for beautiful and innovative design to the business. We look forward to benefiting from his expertise as we focus on our new product strategy that builds upon Allbirds’ core product franchises.”
Revitalizing the Allbirds portfolio of casual footwear, including revamps of its best-selling styles, is one of several focus points as the company seeks to reverse its financial fortunes. The brand introduced a new Tree Runner Go sneaker in April. That followed the launch of the Wool Runner 2 last fall, which was the brand’s best-performing product in over a year, per the company.
Allbirds is coming off a first quarter where its revenue dropped by 28% and it closed three of its retail stores as part of a plan to shutter 10 to 15 this year. This follows a dismal fiscal 2023 that saw an almost 15% drop in revenue. Adding to the brand’s woes was a delisting warning in April from the Nasdaq after the company’s stock traded at less than $1 for 30 consecutive days. The company has until Sept. 30 to regain compliance.
Vernachio, who joined the company as chief operating officer in 2021, assumed the CEO role in March, succeeding co-founder Joey Zwillinger who remained on the board and as a special adviser. Company co-founder Tim Brown relinquished his co-CEO position last year and is now the brand’s chief innovation officer.
As revenues plummeted last year, Allbirds announced a transformation plan in March of 2023 that it hoped would help turn the business around. The company’s chief financial officer left, layoffs were implemented and new store openings were curtailed in an effort to boost the bottom line that year.
