Swiftwick, the U.S. manufacturer of performance socks, hired former Away executive Mark Chou as CEO. The company also appointed new board members Jimmy Leach, former VP of international sales at Toms and K.P. McNeill, CEO of Imogene + Willie and co-founder and former CEO of Billy Reid.
The company noted in a release that the additions to its leadership come as it has raised fresh capital to continue scaling the business, now in its 15th year.
Chou joins Swiftwick after nearly four years as the founder and managing partner of Bradhurst Ventures, a consultancy providing fractional COO/CMO services to consumer brands. Before Bradhurst, Chou worked in multiple executive roles at luggage brand Away, “helping to scale the company from launch to $150M-plus in annual revenue in less than three years.” Chou also brings over a dozen years of experience in consumer/retail, venture capital and investment banking.
“I am thrilled to be joining a company with such a strong reputation for quality, and that is operating profitably—both of which are tributes to the company’s prior leadership,” said Chou. “I look forward to partnering with the board and our executive team in leading the company in this exciting new stage. I would also like to welcome our new creative director, Christian Davies, who brings to Swiftwick over two decades of experience at iconic brands such as Adidas and Nike.”
New board members Jimmy Leach and K.P. McNeill join Chou as part of the expanding Swiftwick team.
“We were first introduced to Mark earlier this year and were excited to learn that he was about to move from New York City to join the Nashville entrepreneurial community,” McNeill and Leach noted. “When we began the search for a new CEO, we hoped to find a leader who was familiar with the challenges of scaling consumer brands and experienced in building company culture. Mark was a shoo-in for the role, and we’re excited to have him on board to lead Swiftwick through its next chapter.”
McNeill and Leach come to Swiftwick with deep consumer experience. McNeill restructured Nashville, TN-based Imogene + Willie and “set the company on track to experience ten-fold growth in five years,” while Leach launched Toms in markets across Asia, Latin America and Europe. “We’re lucky to have such experienced brand operators on the team as we embark on a new stage of growth here at Swiftwick,” Board Chair Jay Chawan shared.
Olympic gold medalists have worn Swiftwick’s socks, Tour de France cyclists, a Masters champion, and marathoners on all seven continents noted the company.
“There are many brands that offer performance socks, but few have an exclusively ‘Made in USA’ heritage like Swiftwick,” board member Joe Maxwell said. “Mark, Jimmy, and K.P. are great minds in this industry, and we’re thrilled to have them join the Swiftwick family to tell this heritage story.”
Photos courtesy Swiftwick
