Brooks Running Company promoted Patrick Pons de Vier to senior vice president of global footwear and hired Gerald Kuhtz as senior design director of global footwear.
Pons de Vier will lead Brooks’ entire footwear team including design, development, product management and research and development. Previously, Pons de Vier worked at Amer Sports as the vice president in charge of Salomon where he led winter sports equipment and apparel and ran footwear strategic alignment and integration. He also pioneered Salomon’s snowboard line, ran the brand’s footwear business unit and built Amer Sports’ footwear platform to launch Arc’teryx footwear.
“Joining Brooks is a natural fit for me and I’m excited to bring my experience and leadership to its world-class footwear team,” said Pons de Vier. “I prioritize innovation and am eager to take Brooks’ leading running footwear and technologies to the next level, solidify our footwear as the best and most advanced in the market and bring more runners to the brand than ever before.”
Kuhtz will oversee and advance the design component of the company’s art-plus-science footwear equation. Kuhtz, the VP of football design for Adidas before coming to Brooks, started his career in footwear design at Adidas in 1998 as an advanced designer for the Adidas Futures Team. He also designed and directed design for the Adidas Golf, TaylorMade and Ashworth brands.
“I’m passionate about breaking new ground in design and performance, and I’m eager to do that with running shoes here at Brooks,” said Kuhtz. “With an already high bar in performance running footwear, our products will command attention when we combine great aesthetics with incredible innovation.”
