Andrea O'Donnell to join Designer Brands as EVP and brands president

Designer Brands has appointed Andrea O'Donnell as brands president and executive vice president of the company, with her appointment to be effective as of January 29, 2024.

As brands president, the company said, O'Donnell will be globally responsible for Designer Brands' full suite of owned and licensed brands, which includes Keds, Vince Camuto, Topo Athletic, Hush Puppies, Le Tigre, Lucky Brand, Jessica Simpson, Kelly & Katie, Crown Vintage, Mix No. 6 and others.

She will be responsible for all aspects of the company's brand portfolio, from design and sourcing to sales, both wholesale and DTC. O'Donnell will report directly to Designer Brands' chief executive officer, Doug Howe.

"With Andrea's appointment as brands president, we are bringing into our organisation a distinctive and crucial skill set that we believe will enable us to accelerate our roadmap as we continue growing as a brand builder. Her deep experience and tremendous track record, which includes the revitalization of the powerhouse brand, Ugg, will be a critical asset for us moving forward," added Howe.

O'Donnell joins Designer Brands from Everlane, a fashion retailer, where she has served as chief executive officer since 2021. Prior to Everlane, O'Donnell led the expansion of Ugg and Koolaburra brands at Deckers as president of fashion lifestyle – during her tenure, Ugg expanded annual revenue by 500 million dollars to over 2 billion dollars.

Commenting on her new role at Designer Brands, O'Donnell said: "Designer Brands has long been a power player in the footwear industry and has now thoughtfully built a diverse and complementary brand portfolio to meet diverse and ever-changing consumer preferences. I am thrilled to begin working with the entire Designer Brands team to continue to build our trend-right and growing brand portfolio."

Prior to Deckers, O'Donnell served as president, global merchandising at DFS Group, a retailer majority owned by LVMH. Earlier, she served as the executive director of Lane Crawford, where she was responsible for merchandising, merchandise planning, marketing, CRM and store planning for the Asia Pacific region across a portfolio of 500 brands. Andrea has also held various posts at retail brands, including John Lewis, Hackett London, Jaeger, and Debenhams.

O'Donnell currently sits on the board of directors for Fashionphile.