At a keynote session at the NRF Big Show, the global brand presidents of VF Corp’s top brands — Sun Choe, Vans; Nina Flood, Timberland; and Caroline Brown, The North Face — discussed the playbooks they are using to transform their brands to revive or accelerate growth.

“Transformation, as we all know in this room, is one of the most overused words in business,” said Mindy Grossman, the Consello partner and vice chair, former Nike executive, and Weight Watchers CEO who led the discussion. “Brands think that if they have a new logo, they put a sign on the wall and a new mission, they’re transformed. True transformation is large, holistic, and often radical. And this is not an easy thing, among other things, it requires a visionary leader, the alignment of the organization at every level, the support of the board, investment dollars, and, yes, very importantly, resilience.”

The presentations during the week were on top of a broader-brushstroke painting of the brand happenings from VF Corp., Bracken Darrell at the ICR Investor Conference in Orlando, FL, on January 13 (see bottom), rounding out a solid picture of the direction of VF’s Big 3 brands.

The North Face Narrows Focus to Snow, Climb And Trail
TNF Brand President Caroline Brown, who formerly led fashion houses Donna Karan International and Carolina Herrera before assuming leadership of The North Face in June 2024, said transformation is about “a lot of moving parts at the same time because in the speed of today’s business, you have to change every single level of the company simultaneously.” She likewise emphasized the importance of resilience.  She said, “There are definitely a lot of plates in the air, a lot of spinning plates.”

Taking responsibility for The North Face, Brown noted that she was fortunate that the brand has some “incredible assets,” including its history, which will celebrate its 60th Anniversary in 2027, its “passionate” team of employees worldwide, and a strong reputation with consumers.

“Those are some very solid pillars and foundation to build upon in a transformation,” said Brown. “What we also found, because of the history, the long history and heritage of the brand, was that, like many brands that have been around for a long time, we started to stray and chase areas that maybe we had some business in, but maybe we didn’t have any business being in.”

She said The North Face has benefited from simplifying its focus to three categories: snow, climb and trail.

“Making that decision drove all the other decisions of how we structured the company from an organizational perspective, from a marketing and a messaging perspective, from what we put forth to consumers in our retail stores and our wholesale outlets,” said Brown. “But, it was a real luxury to come in and find those strong foundational pillars, which have allowed us to move quickly.”

She noted that the brand still must remain rooted in mountain sports performance. The goal of its advertising campaigns is to keep its 210 ambassadors “front and center so that our consumers can be as inspired as we are internally.”

At the same time, Brown said The North Face “is an accessible and approachable brand. We want to be a democratic brand.”

She said, “We’re really proud of that reach. You know, that’s a controversial point in the outdoor industry. But we are really proud of it. We own it. It’s what makes us the largest outdoor brand in the world today.”

To connect with outdoor enthusiasts and city dwellers alike, the brand must be clear about the consistency of performance as its inspiration, according to Brown.

The brand’s top seller, the Nuptse, was first a climbing jacket designed for Mount Everest, but has since evolved into an urban staple. She said, “Now you see it in subways, in the streets and on kids going to school, and we’re super proud of that business as well. But we will lose that business if we do not continue to reinforce the foundation of performance, which is what brings people to The North Face in the first place, even if they’re just using it for everyday life.”

Vans Looks to Recapture “Off The Wall” Mindset
Vans Brand President Sun Choe, the former Lululemon executive who took the reins at Vans in July 2024, said the brand is in the “earlier innings of our transformation,” compared with The North Face and Timberland. She said Vans has embraced five objectives in its turnaround.

The first is “dimensionalizing” Vans. She explained that when she first started, Vans did not have an awareness problem, but consumers often narrowly viewed the brand in “different silos” of what they thought the brand represented, whether skateboarding exclusively or action sports, rather than its broader reach. Choe said, “I think the thing that has always been relevant and cool about the brand is that intersection of action sports, of California, where we’re from, of our legacy in art and music, and so looking at the intersection of those versus just thinking about it in each of those silos. The other thing that I think is important for us is that intersection speaks to the mindset which is ‘Off The Wall,’ and making sure that the teams have absolute clarity on focus on that piece of it.”

Chloe said Vans, which is celebrating its 60th year in 2026, is one of the few brands that has credibility across skateboarding and surf, as well as music and fashion, and that Vans’ team is working to better leverage its credibility.

“It’s incredible to see the diversity of the audience across the entire platform,” said Chloe. “I think what makes Vans so special is the fact that it has that much elasticity that you can collaborate with Valentino and be at Fashion Week in Paris and then can show up in Long Beach in the Warped Tour.”

Second in its turnaround priorities, she said Vans needed to ensure it had “the right team,” whether that included tenured employees with deep roots with the brand as well as new employees with a fresh perspective.

Third, Choe said Vans needed to see “product as the proof point,” ensuring the brand was focused on “product excellence” rather than over-producing or over-assorting to drive volume. She said, “Just making sure that we did things that were incremental, beautiful, created desire, and just fewer things incrementally better.”

Choe finally said Vans’ team needed to align around the brand’s purpose and practice resilience, being patient with the turnaround. Choe said, “This is not for the faint of the heart, and results do lag after decisions are made. So, it really is being able to be confident in your choices and know that you’re doing the right thing and to really stay the course.”

Timberland Reignites Internal Energy
Timberland Brand President Nina Flood, who assumed leadership of the iconic boot and lifestyle brand in December 2023, said “true transformation” is more than making incremental changes. She said, “You need bold leadership…You have to be willing to challenge everything. So all those sacred objects, the legacies, the untouchables. They’re all up for looking at and investigating to see what we need to transform.”

When she took over after leading the brand’s EMEA business, she observed that many elements of Timberland’s business needed an “overhaul,” citing its organizational structure, leadership team, go-to-market processes, planning processes, and global brand architecture. However, she also said the brand “needed to have a complete and total mind shift change.”

She added, “We needed to reset the culture, to reignite energy and belief in the brand, internally and externally.”

She noted that Timberland is “this love brand” that emotionally connects with consumers across ages, genders, ethnicities, and geographies, and Timberland’s internal team needed a better understanding of why. They also needed to better understand its celebrity appeal, noting that Timothée Chalamet wore a pair of Timbs at the Golden Globes this past weekend.

“So, in the turmoil of change, as we were breaking down and rebuilding so many processes, I wanted to make sure that the teams had a focal point, a safe harbor that they could return to and be inspired by,” said Flood. “So, as we set upon creating a compelling vision that was centered on the power of the brand and a plan to execute it, this meant getting a deeper understanding of our consumer and how to connect with them. It meant disruptive amplification of Timberland’s role in culture, and it meant uncompromising execution in our product and marketing in our marketplace. So, by no means is our transformation complete, but I would say we’ve re-ignited energy on the brand, and the teams in lockstep moving forward in the transformation.”

Flood said Timberland is looking to capitalize on its renewed brand heat through designer collaborations with Louis Vuitton, Telfar and Jacquemus and customizing shoes for celebrities and sports stars that often go viral on social media.

Flood said, “What’s been exciting is the Timberland brand coming back from a slower moment and being reignited with this brand energy. And we’re seeing that in brand search increases in the U.S. and in key markets in Europe. We’re seeing that with the resale of coveted Timberland products, which are soaring. And what’s really exciting is bringing more younger consumers into the brand. We hear from our stores that kids are coming in, breaking their piggy banks to buy their first pair of Tims. So, we love that moment. And I think it’s this idea of really staying true to our heritage and amplifying it in all the ways, connecting with our consumers and connecting authentically with culture.”

Images courtesy WhatsApp/VF Corp.

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See below for additional SGB Executive coverage of Bracken Darrell’s presentation at the ICR Conference.

EXEC: VF Corp. CEO Outlines Keys for Vans, TNF and Timberland Revivals