Dive Brief:

• VF Corporation on Thursday announced the appointment of Kevin Bailey to the position of global brand president of Vans, according to a company press release. Bailey will report to VF CEO Steve Rendle and will serve on the company's executive leadership team. 
• Bailey has worked with VF for 17 years, most recently as the corporation's president of the Asia-Pacific Region and emerging brands, where he oversaw Altra, JanSport and Smartwool. 
• Bailey was previously the president of Vans from 2009 through 2016. Revenue more than doubled to $2.2 billion during his time in that position. 

Dive Insight:

With the appointment of Bailey to global brand president, Vans is drawing on an executive that has a vast knowledge of the skate company. He was serving as vice president of retail for the brand when it was acquired by VF in 2004, and has worked in a series of roles with increasing responsibility during his time at the conglomerate.

"I've heard Kevin call himself the world's oldest teenager," Paul Van Doren wrote about Bailey in his 2021 book "Authentic: A Memoir by the Founder of Vans."

"He was a terrific president, partly because he had been immersed in Vans' culture for years. He told me he wanted it to continue to feel like a family-run operation, which I appreciated," Van Doren wrote about Bailey's 2009 turn as president of the brand. 

Bailey is replacing Doug Palladini, who was in the role since 2016. 

"Kevin brings a deep level of knowledge and understanding of the Vans brand, its consumer, and the global business to this role," Rendle said in a statement. "He will work closely with the Vans leadership team and our enterprise functions as we focus on re-energizing the brand's global growth."

VF Corp may be pulling on someone with a history with the brand in order to bolster its performance. In its latest earnings, Vans grew 8%, which was characterized by Rendle as "modest" compared to its pre-pandemic revenue growth. 

"Vans did not meet expectations in Q3, with mixed holiday performance," Rendle said on an earnings call with analysts. "While we are encouraged by the sequential improvement of the business fundamentals, we acknowledge that the Vans brand continues to perform below the expectations set in May 21." 

VF Corporation also recently announced the appointment of a global brand president for one of its other brands, The North Face. Nicole Otto joined the company in January from Nike, where she spent 16 years, and most recently served as vice president of Nike Direct North America.