Grant Barth, who spent 16 years at Nike in global merchandising across many categories including sportswear, running and technical outerwear, has been named chief merchandising officer for the Levi’s® brand. Barth left Nike earlier this year to become men’s merchandising team for the Levi’s brand.
During his 16 years at Nike, Barth spent a significant amount of time in Asia leading product development in emerging markets.
Barth's promotion was part of a number of changes to Levi's management announced by James “JC” Curleigh, the former CEO of Keen who was recently named executive vice president and president of the the Levi's brand.
“We’re evolving the Levi’s brand leadership team to include a global product creation, merchandising and marketing structure to help increase our share of consumers’ closets around the world,” said James “JC” Curleigh, executive vice president and president of the Levi’s brand. “We are confident that the changes we’re making will allow us to build on the brand’s heritage, expand the relationship with our loyal fans and continue to create innovative product solutions to connect with a new generation of fans.”
Jennifer Sey, the current senior vice president of e-commerce, will become the global chief marketing officer for the Levi’s® brand, responsible for marketing strategies across all of the Levi’s® brand product categories. She will report to James Curleigh. Ms. Sey has had a successful marketing career spanning more than 20 years. She joined Levi Strauss & Co. in 1999 and has held a variety of leadership positions, including senior vice president of marketing for Dockers® brand and vice president of global marketing for the Levi’s® brand. She led the global re-introduction of the Dockers® brand via the Wear the Pants® campaign, the global re-launch of Levi’s® 501® jean in 2008 and the global repositioning of the Levi’s® women’s business with the introduction of its Curve ID “shape not size” initiative. Prior to joining Levi Strauss &Co., Ms. Sey managed advertising at Banana Republic and also held a series of roles at Foote, Cone & Belding.
Karyn Hillman joins the company in the newly created position of chief product officer for the Levi’s® brand. In this role, Ms. Hillman is responsible for developing innovative product assortments and creating compelling product stories across the men’s and women’s businesses worldwide. She will report to James Curleigh. Ms. Hillman brings a 22-year successful track record in building global brands, creating compelling and innovative product assortments and driving market share results in the apparel industry. Most recently, she was the global head of product creation at Calvin Klein Jeans and Accessories. Prior to that Ms. Hillman was a key leader at Gap Inc. for 20 years in a variety of roles, including senior vice president of merchandising for Gap brand where she oversaw women’s, men’s, accessories and Gap Body.
Jonathan Cheung, current vice president of merchandising for men’s tops, will be the new head of design for the Levi’s® brand. In this role, he takes responsibility for both the men’s and women’s design teams and will report into Karyn Hillman. Mr. Cheung brings more than 23 years of international design experience in menswear, womenswear and denim, having led creative teams in six countries and in three languages. He joined the company in 2009 as the lead designer for the Levi’s ®Made & Crafted TM collection. Prior to joining Levi Strauss & Co., Mr. Cheung was head of global research for Armani Jeans, created the first jeans collection for Iceberg, and was a lead designer with Moschino.
