Marks & Spencer taps senior womenswear hire from Nike

Marks & Spencer has appointed Monique Leeuwenburgh as head of product development, technology and innovation for womenswear.

Leeuwenburgh will be moving from Nike where she spent the last 27 years, most recently as global technical development senior director.

The news comes days after it was revealed the UK retailer’s Clothing and Home supply chain director Gordon Mowat had resigned after two years in the position.

Commenting on Leeuwenburgh’s appointment in a statement, Jill Stanton, director of womenswear and kidswear, said: “As part of our Clothing and Home transformation we’re changing how we plan, buy, move and sell product. As part of this we’re excited to be recruiting new talent at pace – helping us to build the right team to drive forward our plans to re-establish our authority in contemporary, wearable style and wardrobe essentials.

“Great product development and relevant innovation for our customers is key to this, so I’m delighted that Monique Leeuwenburgh will be joining us next week from Nike. Monique brings years of technical expertise from a world leader in innovation and has an impressive skillset, including a real flair for sustainable innovation which is so important to Marks & Spencer and our customers. Having worked across international markets she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience and a fast-paced, commercial mindset to the team and will be a great addition to my leadership team.

“Monique is just one of the many new talented leaders we’re bringing into Clothing and Home – with Maddy Evans coming later this year to strength our women’s team and building on some of the great starters that we’ve had over the past year including our talented head of design Lisa Illis.”

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