Escada has recruited its new global design director from Hunter, WWD has learned.
The Munich-based fashion house is expected to today announce the hire of Niall Sloan, effective Aug. 1.
June 16 is his last day as design director at Hunter, best known for its popular rubber boots, after four years in the role. Before that he worked beside Christopher Bailey, chief creative officer at Burberry, for 10 years, attaining the title of head of the women’s Prorsum team.
Sloan said he plans to exalt Escada’s “fun, bold and feminine” heritage and is to start work on the fall 2018 collection with the in-house design team and present his first full collection for resort 2019. He reports to Iris Epple-Righi, chief executive officer of Escada, who said Sloan’s mission is to “reinterpret the legacy of the brand in a relevant and contemporary way.”
Separately on Tuesday, Hunter said Sloan’s successor would be appointed in due course.
The company also recruited two retail and branding veterans from Marc Jacobs and Uniqlo before a long-serving executive departs.
Sallie Scripter, who had her own brand consultancy, recently joined Hunter as executive vice president of the Americas. Prior to that, Scripter worked for more than a decade with LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton as senior vice president of retail development and ready-to-wear at Marc Jacobs and then as president of footwear boutique brands for Jones Group before it became Nine West Holdings.
Tracy Solomon joined Hunter as customer engagement director, a post focused on customer engagement across e-commerce, retail, merchandising and digital marketing. She comes to the brand after seven years with Uniqlo, where she most recently served as director of customer experience.
Hunter’s chief commercial officer, Wendy Svarre, will be leaving the brand at the end of the month after nine years at the company.
Chief executive officer Vincent Wauters, who joined Hunter last year, said he would be taking up her chief commercial officer responsibilities. No replacement is being sought.
Svarre’s next move could not immediately be learned.