The Leader You Call When the Brand Is Drifting

From global luxury groups to digitally native labels, fashion and beauty companies are increasingly turning to a specific kind of executive — someone who can steady the ship and reimagine the future. These leaders aren’t just hired to plug financial holes. They’re expected to revive culture, sharpen strategy and reignite relevance in a distracted marketplace.

Key Takeaways

• Brands aren’t just hiring survival-mode CEOs anymore — they want leaders who can reposition the business for long-term strength, modern identity and operational clarity.

• Successful turnarounds involve more than restructuring or cost control. They require diagnosing dysfunction, adapting to consumer shifts, and restoring desire.

• Traditional KPIs like margin and revenue matter — but success is increasingly judged by employee energy, brand perception and cultural traction.

A New Breed of Executive: The Reset Architect

Some leaders build; others rebuild. Mary van Praag, now leading Milani Cosmetics, has made a career out of transforming companies at critical inflection points. Hired in 2020 — in the middle of lockdowns and supply chain disarray — she was tasked with reviving a brand whose hero products had suddenly become irrelevant. Rather than reacting defensively, she rebuilt the executive bench, refreshed partnerships, and reintroduced the brand to consumers through high-impact collaborations.

The results? Fourteen growth quarters out of the last fifteen, roughly $200 million in annual revenue, and the only independent cosmetics line ranked in the US top ten for color beauty.

"I don’t run from chaos — I run toward it,” she likes to say. Her profile resembles that of a growing cohort of leaders parachuted in to turn paralysis into momentum.

Recent moves underscore the trend:

• Kering installed automotive veteran Luca de Meo to help revive Gucci’s relevance and restore investor confidence.

• Nike, Everlane, Victoria’s Secret and Dr. Martens have all replaced leadership with executives known for decisive resets.

• Glossier and Lululemon brought in cultural stabilizers to clean up internal dysfunction and reboot morale.

  
  

What Makes a Great Transformation CEO?

Boards are learning that rescuing a brand doesn’t just call for sharp numbers people. The most effective turnaround chiefs blend:

• Financial acuity: Ability to quickly diagnose profit leaks and prioritize high-impact changes.

• Strategic clarity: Skills to focus on the top two or three moves that will create momentum quickly.

• Cultural IQ: An instinct for rallying stakeholders and unlocking buy-in.

• Crisis composure: Judgement formed under pressure.

• Communication power: Ability to energize, not just instruct.

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A common starting point: a roadmap built around possibility, metrics and obstacles — then making the workforce feel like architects rather than casualties of change.

Job cuts can be part of the equation, but the smartest leaders first identify who is willing to adapt — and who is blocking progress.

Why Outsiders Are In Demand

Many transformational appointments come from adjacent sectors. Boards are deliberately looking for eyes unclouded by legacy habits:

• Lululemon sourced Calvin McDonald from Sephora.

• JCPenney once hired Marvin Ellison out of the home improvement world.

• Kering brought in De Meo from the automotive sector.

Outsiders are more likely to question entrenched traditions, spot overlooked gaps and accelerate modernization in areas like tech, logistics, or the consumer experience.

In fashion especially, external hires can puncture elitist culture and reignite innovation.

Measuring Progress: It’s Not Just P&L Anymore

Financial performance still sets the tone — stakeholders expect to see tangible gains in areas such as:

• Revenue and margin growth

• Capital efficiency

• Digital penetration

• Market share

  
  

Ideally, the strategy shows up in stock performance within 12 months.

But softer indicators increasingly matter:

• Employee retention and engagement scores

• Consumer sentiment and social buzz

• Acceleration of product innovation (e.g., shorter concept-to-market cycles)

• Organic cultural traction — think content virality, influencer alignment or follower growth

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In fashion and beauty, the ultimate litmus test is whether the leader can make people want the brand again. Cultural desire can’t be cost-cut into existence.

When “Transformation” Isn’t About Crisis

Not every appointment is about rescuing a falling brand. Sometimes the mandate is to steer into a new era, shift strategy or respond to changing conditions:

• Burberry’s 2024 leadership change was more about recalibrating its “elevation” ambition than avoiding collapse.

• Some transformations are triggered by shifts in regulation, tariffs, consumer habits or retail models.

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Still, in most cases, the underlying issue traces back to finance and relevance — stalled sales, forgotten identity, shrinking margin or operational drag.

The Job: Part Strategist, Part Translator

Fashion’s most effective reset leaders understand the push and pull between creativity and commerce. They create the conditions for both to thrive:

• Set a clear strategic direction

• Invest behind what’s working

• Remove roadblocks

• Empower cross-functional teams

• Grow cultural currency without losing fiscal discipline

As one recruiter put it: “In this industry, the best turnaround leaders know they’re not just managing a business. They’re relighting a story people want to be part of.