Dive Brief:
- Lululemon on Monday appointed two new executives to its design team, according to details emailed to sister publication Retail Dive. Jonathan Cheung is now global creative director and JJ Collier has taken on a new position as vice president of design for outerwear.
- Cheung will report to Chief Product Officer Sun Choe and Collier will report to Cheung, the company said. Both Cheung and Collier started on Monday and are based in the athleticwear brand’s hometown of Vancouver, Canada.
- Cheung takes over as global creative director following the death of Phil Dickinson in May last year. He will be responsible for driving Lululemon’s global creative strategy and creating the brand’s product design roadmap.
Dive Insight:
Lululemon is beefing up its design team with a new creative director and a leader for its budding outerwear category.
Cheung, who has more than 30 years of experience in creative and business leadership, joins Lululemon after acting as a consultant to retailers including Gap, Mattel and Merrell. He also previously served as Levi’s senior vice president of design and design innovation, and has worked for Franco Moschino and Giorgio Armani.
Collier, who will lead both Lululemon’s men’s and women’s outerwear teams, most recently founded and led design consultation company Collier Brands, which specializes in outdoor and lifestyle apparel. The executive has 20 years of experience in senior design roles, including as senior director of apparel innovation concepts at VF Corporation, and has created technical outerwear for Ralph Lauren and led design at Spyder Active Sports.
“Jonathan and JJ have proven track records in product innovation and their leadership will accelerate our goal of delivering products that both disrupt the industry and resonate with consumers, while building upon the expertise we have in creating technical innovations,” Choe said in a statement.
2023 was another year of large growth for Lululemon. The athleticwear brand in the fall increased its store opening plans and just last week raised its guidance for Q4, expecting revenue to range from $3.17 billion to $3.19 billion, up as much as 15% from last year. However, last year also marked the discontinuation of the company’s Mirror fitness device after years of challenges. The at-home fitness company was acquired a few years previously for $500 million. Instead, Lululemon formed a five-year partnership with Peloton that saw the bike company become its exclusive digital fitness content provider.
