Tapestry Names Anna Bakst as the New CEO of Kate Spade

Tapestry, the international house of brands, declared on Friday that Anna Bakst as the new CEO and president of Kate Spade.

Bakst will be joining the company next week, succeeding Craig Leavitt, who departed Kate Spade last year after an acquisition by Coach, which is now held under Tapestry.

She will be reporting to Victor Luis, CEO of Tapestry, who had been serving as the interim head of Kate Spade as the brand seeks for a new leader.

“[Bakst] brings a rare combination of business acumen, directly related fashion experience and strong leadership skills to the company,” stated Luis. “Together with recently appointed Creative Director Nicola Glass, we now have the right senior management in place to lead the talented Kate Spade brand team and drive the business globally.”

Bakst recently worked at Michael Kors as the president of the accessories and footwear categories. She also previously worked at Donna Karan International, leading the accessories and footwear departments of the company.

“Anna's focus on product innovation — notably in the key categories of accessories and footwear — will be a key pillar of the Kate Spade growth strategy,” said Luis.

After acquiring Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman brands, Tapestry aims to collect a portfolio of names with global reach, selling not just handbags but also apparel and other lifestyle accessories.

Meanwhile, the shares of Tapestry went up more than 17 percent this year.

Former CEO of ModCloth Left Walmart

In other news, the former CEO of ModCloth, Matt Kaness, who sold the women’s fashion retailer to Walmart last year, has left the mammoth brick-and-mortar retailer, according to sources.

Walmart acquired ModCloth last March 2017, to help boost the fashion assortment of its subsidiary Jet.com, and Kaness continuously run the retrial operation for the next few months.

However, Kanees has turned down a move from San Francisco to Los Angeles after the management of Walmart decided that the CEO role should be based there, one of the sources said.

“We thank Matt for his contributions to ModCloth and wish him all the best in the future.” a spokesperson of Walmart said.

Meanwhile, Kaness did not give any comment about the matter.

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