Dive Brief:

• Mack Weldon, a direct-to-consumer menswear brand, last week hired Talia Handler to serve as its first chief marketing officer, the company said in an email to Retail Dive. The appointment comes as DTC brands more broadly work to build out their C-suites.

• In her role, Handler will manage the brand's go-to-market strategies and oversee its integrated marketing, creative and communications teams, the company said in a press release. 

• Before joining the company, Handler held leadership roles at agencies like Ogilvy, Huge and Saatchi & Saatchi, and has worked with companies such as JPMorgan Chase, Adidas, Revlon, Uniqlo and TikTok.

Dive Insight:

Handler's hiring comes as more DTC brands seek out veteran executives to steer their companies as they scale.

Stitch Fix's founder Katrina Lake is stepping down from the company in August, a move that mirrors other popular retail startups where founders are taking a step back from the day-to-day running of the business. Away tried to do the same by bringing in Lululemon's Stuart Haselden, who then left the company for Arc'teryx. The DTC brand in April named co-founder Jen Rubio as its next CEO.

The marketing space in particular has seen some action in recent months, with Everlane poaching a Nike executive for its own first chief marketer. The company tapped another Nike veteran to serve as its global creative director in early May. Beauty brand Glossier also looked to a retail giant for its vice president of brand, Kleo Mack. Mack came to the DTC brand from a position leading company-wide marketing strategies at beauty powerhouse L'Oréal.

Like other DTC brands, Mack Weldon had to pivot during the COVID-19 pandemic to serve customers in an uncertain economic period. Instead of focusing on expanding into physical stores, the company turned its attention toward altering its marketing strategy and investing in digital channels like Google and Facebook to acquire customers. In Handler's hiring announcement, the company's CEO and founder Brian Berger said the company is preparing for its next growth phase. 

"Central to our plan is an investment in the Mack Weldon brand that both enhances our current marketing efforts and creates new opportunities for customer engagement," Berger said in a statement. "The battle for mindshare no longer lives solely at the bottom of the marketing funnel; to be successful in today's competitive market, brands need a full-funnel strategy. Talia's experience with some of the world's leading brands at key growth milestones makes her uniquely qualified to build Mack Weldon into a global menswear leader."