Dive Brief:
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Ralph Lauren veteran John Szczepanski will join Vince Holding Corp. as chief financial officer on Jan. 2, the apparel company said on Wednesday.
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He has spent most of his 20-year career at Ralph Lauren in various finance leadership roles, according to a company press release.
- Szczepanski takes over from interim CFO Michael Hand, who stepped in earlier this year when CFO Amy Levy left. She had been promoted to the role at the start of the year, replacing David Stefko, who retired. But Levy left five months later to take a job at Centric brands.
Dive Insight:
Vince, which runs retail stores and e-commerce, an outlet business and wholesale, hit a rough patch in recent years. Earlier this year, brand management firm Authentic Brands Group snapped it up, adding to its growing stable of struggling companies.
Last year, Vince had shuttered its Rebecca Taylor business, selling off that intellectual property months later. There’s some continuity at the company, as Vince CEO Jack Schwefel, appointed in 2021, remains in that post. But the CFO role has had a revolving door.
Earlier this month, the company announced a transformation strategy centered on cutting $30 million in costs over the next three years. At that time, Vince said it expected Q3 net sales to reach $81 million to $83 million, a “sequential improvement compared to the second quarter of 2023.” In Q2, net sales fell 22% year over year to $69.4 million.
In a statement, Schwefel said that Szczepanski’s experience will be “a tremendous asset to our leadership team.”
“I look forward to working closely with John as we continue to progress our transformation program and position Vince for long-term success,” he said.
In his own statement, Szczepanski said he is a longtime admirer of the Vince brand and acknowledged that he will be arriving at a “pivotal time for the company.”
