Matalan appoints Adele Pickering as head of creative brand

UK fashion and homeware retailer Matalan has announced the appointment of Adele Pickering as head of creative brand. Pickering will join the business in November, strengthening the retailer’s senior brand leadership.

Pickering brings more than 20 years of creative experience across fashion, home, beauty, and lifestyle. She has previously held roles at Spanish fashion brand Mango, UK fashion retailer Next, and department store chain John Lewis. Most recently, she led the creative direction and digital transformation of the e-commerce platform for retailer Marks & Spencer across fashion, home, and beauty.

In her new role, Pickering will oversee creative brand execution across Matalan’s brick and mortar stores, digital platforms, social media, and marketing. Her responsibilities will cover major campaigns and targeted customer initiatives, aiming to create a consistent brand experience across all touchpoints.

“I’m delighted to welcome Adele to Matalan,” said Eilidh MacAskill, marketing director at Matalan. “She brings extensive creative experience across some of the best-known fashion and lifestyle brands, and will add real strength to our team. We’ve made significant progress over the last year in strengthening our product, brand and customer experience. Adele will play an important role in building on that progress and making sure the Matalan brand shows up distinctively and consistently wherever our customers experience it.”

Commenting on her appointment, Pickering added: “I’m really excited to be joining Matalan at such an important point in its evolution. It’s a brand with incredible heritage, scale and relevance, and there’s a real opportunity to build on the work already underway and bring the next chapter of Matalan to life for customers.”

The executive move follows the launch of ‘Believe It’s Matalan’ earlier this month, a new brand platform showcasing recent updates across the retailer's product lines, physical stores, digital experience, and marketing strategy.

The hire also builds on several recent additions to Matalan's leadership team. Former M&S managing director of clothing, home, and beauty Richard Price recently joined the business as an adviser, while Angela Gaskell was named director of sourcing, purchasing, quality, and fit, and Jonty Wilson was appointed head of quality and technical earlier this year.