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Dive Brief:

• Former Nike executive Trevor Edwards has been named to VF Corp.’s board of directors, the apparel conglomerate said Monday.

• The appointment, which was effective Sunday, follows pressure from activist investor Engaged Capital to shake up VF Corp.’s board and slash costs. Engaged didn’t immediately respond to questions about whether the Edwards appointment satisfies the firm's demands for a board refresh. VF declined to comment.

• Edwards, once widely seen as in line to become Nike’s CEO, in 2018 abruptly retired from the athletic apparel giant amid questions about the brand’s work culture.

Dive Insight:

With a somewhat subdued career compared to the chief executive track at Nike, Edwards is available to help out at VF Corp.

Since his departure from the sneaker powerhouse, he has been serving as a strategic adviser to direct-to-consumer brands and investment firms, according to VF Corp.’s press release. He is also a director on Funko’s board, and was on Mattel’s board until 2018, the same year he left Nike, according to his LinkedIn page.

“Having worked in the apparel and footwear industry for decades, I know and respect VF’s well-earned reputation and am a personal fan of its iconic brands and its purpose-driven culture,” Edwards said in a statement. 

VF’s iconic brands include Vans, The North Face and Supreme. Vans has fallen from its perch as the company’s sales driver, and Supreme has remained relatively quiet since VF acquired it three years ago for more than $2 billion. Last week, Engaged Capital slammed the Supreme acquisition as “the culmination of a flawed strategy” that ballooned its debt. 

In a presentation that included a headquarters comparison to the Death Star in Star Wars, the firm prescribed $300 million in expense cuts and $100 million in investment to reinvigorate VF Corp.’s brands, in addition to board changes.

“[The] existing Board allowed strategic mistakes and corporate excess to continue unchecked,” Engaged said in its document. “[The] Board would benefit from business transformation experience and greater sense of urgency to address underperformance.”

In a statement, VF Corp. board chair Richard Carucci said that Edwards’ appointment will “strengthen the Board’s depth of talent and is part of the Board’s ongoing work to evaluate and regularly refresh its composition to ensure depth of expertise and diversity of perspectives.”