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On Monday, Burberry CEO Jonathan Akeroyd left his position and was replaced by Joshua Schulman, who was previously CEO of Michael Kors, Coach, and Jimmy Choo.
Akeroyd’s abrupt departure came after sales flagged in Q1, and the company’s share price fell 17% in London by the close of trading on Monday. The industry veteran, who first joined the company in April 2022, was formerly also the chief executive at Versace and Alexander McQueen.
Since coming on board just over two years ago, Akeroyd has introduced a new colorway dubbed “Burberry blue” and produced some viral hits like the crocheted duck hat that became a TikTok sensation. In 2022, he brought on former Bottega Veneta designer Daniel Lee as CCO in an attempt to revive the label and bring back its quintessential “Britishness.”
Yet Burberry has continued to decline. As of late June, the label was reportedly set to cut as many as 400 jobs. And in May, it reported a 34% drop in annual profit.
The luxury industry as a whole continues to struggle as consumers pull back on spending. For Burberry, however, shaking up its executive leadership comes from a familiar playbook.
In fact, since the departure of CEO Angela Ahrendts in 2013, the company has seen a lot of executive changes, first with the arrival of Christopher Bailey, who was chosen as Ahrendts’ successor. While Bailey was credited with leading the design of Burberry’s flagship store in London in 2012 and transforming the brand, he was replaced by Marco Gobbetti, former CEO of Céline, in 2017.
In 2018, former Givenchy creative director Riccardo Tisci was brought in as chief creative officer, but stepped down in 2022 and was replaced by Lee.