J.Crew hires former Skims executive Julia Collier as chief marketing officer
Julia Collier is J.Crew’s new chief marketing officer, the brand’s parent company, J.Crew Group, announced today.
Collier has since joined Skimmedwhere she most recently served as senior vice president of marketing. She spent more than four years at the Kim Kardashian-owned company, which she joined before its launch in 2019.
The hire comes after nearly a year without a top marketer for J.Crew and its sister brand Madewell, also owned by J.Crew Group. Derek Yarbrough, former executive vice president and chief marketing officer of J.Crew and Madewell, left the company in January. Collier will solely run marketing for J.Crew, and the company declined to say what the hire would mean for Madewell management.
Collier will start on January 6 and report directly to Libby Wadle, chief executive officer of J.Crew Group. His role will be to oversee the marketing and creation of the J.Crew brand.
Collier, “brings an ideal combination of brand-building expertise, fashion industry knowledge and passion for culturally relevant marketing strategies that will drive even greater engagement,” Wadle said in a statement . “His versatile experience, proven leadership abilities and forward-thinking approach will be a valuable addition to our team as we continue to build momentum.” »
Rebuilding momentum for J.Crew
Over the past four years, J.Crew has struggled to regain its footing after being one of the first retail casualties of the Covid-19 pandemic when Chinos Holdings, owner of the J.Crew Group, filed a request. Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2020. Yarbrough was part of a new list of leaders set up in 2021 to chart the way forward for the clothing company.
Collier’s background includes two decades of experience in fashion, branding and marketing agencies. At Skims, she signed partnership agreements in the sports and luxury fields, including with the NBA, WNBA, Team USA, Fendi, Swarovski and Dolce & Gabbana. Before that, she led marketing at fashion brand ALC and spent four years at Wednesday Agency. Earlier in her career, she worked for brands like Rugby Ralph Lauren and Diesel.
Collier, “brings a broad network of relationships and a relentless approach that complements the world-class teams we have built at J.Crew,” said Kevin Ulrich, chairman of the board of directors of J.Crew Group, in a statement . “As the J.Crew brand enters its next chapter, Julia’s sense of what is both current and authentic will accelerate the brand’s growth and relevance.”
In a statement, Collier described J.Crew as “an iconic American brand that has been at the forefront of consumer consciousness for decades and holds a unique place in culture, both past and present.”
More recently, J.Crew has relied on nostalgia to increase sales. The retailer released its first print catalog since 2017 in September. The printed catalog had long been an integral part of J.Crew’s marketing. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal In September, Wadle told the publication that J.Crew’s sales were approaching $3 billion this year.
J.Crew Group also hired PMG as its media agency of reference in January.
