Lululemon Athletica Inc. appointed Lee Holman, formerly SVP, women’s, as Lululemon’s EVP, creative director, a new position. The role of chief product officer has been eliminated.
In this new role, Holman will oversee both Men’s and Women’s product design and will report directly to Lululemon’s CEO, Laurent Potdevin.
“Standing out requires a fierce commitment to constant innovation in functional performance. Our unwavering dedication to a singular design vision and craftsmanship has made us the global market leader in the category we’ve created and continue to define,” said Potdevin. “Changes to the organizational structure, including the new role of creative director, are critical to executing upon our 10-year vision,” added Potdevin.
As a result of these changes, Lululemon has eliminated the role of chief product officer. Tara Poseley, who joined the company in October 2013 as chief product officer, will be leaving the company after a transition period. “We greatly appreciate Tara’s contributions, including the build-out of strong product, innovation, and merchandising teams, and we wish her continued success in the future,” said Potdevin.
The establishment of a creative director position will further unify Men’s and Women’s design under a singular creative vision, strengthening the design ethos of the brand. Holman joined Lululemon in 2014 with 20 years of design and leadership experience, including senior positions at Nike, where he served as creative director of Nike Sportswear and most recently as VP of global apparel, innovation and equipment design men’s & women’s. Prior to Nike, Lee was creative director for high profile brands such as Burberry, and spent several years at Abercrombie & Fitch, Levi Strauss & Co, and Paul Smith. Holman obtained his MA Fashion Design from Central Saint Martins. Felix del Toro, SVP & General Manager, Men’s, will continue to oversee the Men’s business and will report to Holman.
Dr. Tom Waller has been promoted to SVP, Whitespace, reporting directly to Potdevin, further reinforcing product R&D and innovation as the core pillar and growth driver for Lululemon. Whitespace, Lululemon’s team of scientists and engineers, will continue to drive long-term innovation. Prior to joining Lululemon in 2012, Dr. Waller was Head of Aqualab at Speedo International. As director of R&D at Progressive Sports Technologies, he provided strategic consultancy to global brands, as well as federation and elite athletes.
Stuart Haselden, CFO, will assume broader operational responsibilities adding EVP, operations to his title. As operational excellence continues to be a key priority, Lululemon has begun a search for a newly created position of chief supply chain officer reporting into Haselden, who will be responsible for continuing to optimize the company’s scalable, global supply chain across multiple categories.
