Kendra Scott steps down as CEO of namesake accessories company

Dive Brief:

• Kendra Scott on Monday announced that she has stepped down as CEO of her namesake fashion accessories company, according to a press release. Scott will continue to serve as executive chairwoman and majority owner. 

• Tom Nolan has been promoted to the CEO role effective immediately. Nolan previously served in senior leadership roles at Ralph Lauren and Condé Nast, and was the founder and CEO of Prospect Brands. 

• Nolan joined Kendra Scott’s board in 2014, became the company’s chief revenue and marketing officer in 2016, and in 2019 was promoted to president.

Dive Insight:

Kendra Scott has been the brand’s sole chief executive for nearly 20 years, but while she’s stepping down her influence will continue as she leads all design, customer experience and philanthropy operations. 

“During this extraordinary time of retail transformation, there has been no better person to partner with me on building the brand and business,” Scott said of Nolan in a statement. “Tom is an experienced executive with a relentless focus on the customer, operational rigor, and strong expertise in digital transformation.” 

The two worked together on the company’s Austin flagship launch, which took a minority investment from Berkshire Partners that valued the company at $1 billion. They also created the Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, where Scott teaches, per the release.

Fashion as a category has taken a hit during COVID-19, with the segment seeing an increase in casualization as large sections of the population switched to remote work and events were canceled to slow the spread of the virus. McKinsey & Company’s “The State of Fashion 2021” report forecasts an uneven recovery, with Europe expected to be the worst hit region, followed by the U.S. “Consumer intent to shop for apparel, footwear, accessories and jewelry in September 2020 was still down by 27 to 35 percent in the US,” the report said.  

Kendra Scott founded her namesake company in 2002 and the brand currently has 110 standalone stores in the U.S. Its products are also sold in Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s and 600 specialty boutiques globally. The company’s products are created out of its studio in Austin, Texas.