Dive Brief:
- Hanna Andersson has named Aimée Lapic as its next CEO, succeeding Sally Pofcher. Pofcher, who stepped into the chief executive role just over a year ago, will become the non-executive chair of the company’s board.
- Lapic joins the children’s clothing retailer from GoPro where she served as chief digital and marketing officer and led the DTC and subscription business, according to a company press release last week.
- Prior to GoPro, Lapic also held leadership roles at Pandora Media, Gap Inc. and Banana Republic.
Dive Insight:
The revolving door of CEOs at Hanna Andersson continues as it names its fifth chief executive in as many years.
Lapic comes to Hanna Andersson with more than two decades of experience growing digital businesses. In her most recent role at GoPro, she led the company’s DTC business, helping the segment to deliver $392 million in revenue, or 34% of the company’s total revenue, at the end of last year. Lapic also helped grow GoPro’s subscriber base to over 1.7 million as of March 2022, a five-fold increase, according to Hanna Andersson’s announcement.
"Throughout her impressive career, Aimée has established herself as a proven digital and marketing executive, and as a highly skilled leader with a track record of driving results at iconic brands. We are confident that her expertise will accelerate Hanna's digital roadmap and build on the brand's current momentum,” Nikhil Thukral, managing partner at private equity firm L Catterton, said in a statement.
The children’s retailer has changed hands among private equity firms a couple of times, most recently being acquired by L Catterton in 2016.
And while the frequent executive changes may be troubling, the children’s apparel market continues to grow. The online children’s apparel market is set to grow by $28.02 billion between 2021 and 2026, indicating a compound annual growth rate of 8%, according to a report from Technavio released last month.
