John L.A. Wilson, former executive vice president of Wacoal Sports Science Corp., has been promoted to president and chief operating officer. He is a founding member of the three-person team that established the company in 2002 to introduce the CW-X Conditioning Wear brand of winter sports, running, bike and outdoor sports performance apparel to millions of North American sports and outdoor enthusiasts.
CW-X Conditioning Wear, with 15 U.S. patents, is made for a wide variety of high-energy activities, including running, fitness walking, hiking, cycling, skiing, snowboarding, track and field, and other fitness activities.
Under Wilson’s direction, the CW-X product line expanded to include tights, tops, and supportive sports bras now available at 750 specialty retail locations in 49 states and five Canadian provinces. Wilson also brokered sponsorship agreements with USA Luge, the U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation, and recently signed a strategic alliance with LEKI USA to jointly promote Nordic Walking.
As president and COO he will report direct to Wacoal’s corporate headquarters in Kyoto, Japan. Wilson will continue to spearhead the brand’s expansion in North America and begin the process of launching the brand into international markets.
Prior to joining Wacoal in 2002, Wilson, 47, was managing director and chief marketing officer of Healthscout Network, the Internet healthcare content company in New York, and president of Sara Lee Corporation’s Duofold brand, a manufacturer of base layer performance apparel headquartered in Tamaqua, Pa. Earlier in his career he served in various general management and marketing positions at Reebok, Converse and LA Gear.
As a young man in the U.K., Wilson represented his country on the national track team in 1975-1976, competed in the 1980 Olympic trials, and later was awarded an athletic scholarship to Boston University, where he received his BSBA in Marketing in 1981. He obtained his MBA at the Bentley College Graduate Business School in 1988. An avid snow skier, runner, and fly fisherman, he is married with two children and resides in Tuckahoe, N.Y.
