Abercrombie hopes shakeup will revive sales

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. has formed a new brand leadership team to help drive the struggling company forward.



The new brand leadership team includes the following executives:



• Stacie Beaver, general manager for Abercrombie Womens. Having held a variety of senior positions at Abercrombie for more than 15 years, Beaver most recently led the Bottoms business for men and women across Hollister and Abercrobmie.



• Kurt Hoffman, general manager for Abercrombie Mens. Hoffman joined Abercrombie in March from Club Monaco, where he was senior director of men`s merchandising. Previously, he held executive positions with Ralph Lauren, J. Crew, and Jack Spade.



• Aaron Levine, head designer for Abercrombie Mens. Levine joined the company in July from Club Monaco, where he was VP of men`s design. He has also held a number of senior design roles at Jack Spade, Rogues Gallery and Hickey Freeman.



• Monica Margerum, head of planning operations for Abercrombie and Abercrombie Kids. Margerum joined Abercrombie in August from Kohl`s, where she was senior VP of planning for juniors and kids. Previously, she spent 14 years at Express, where she most recently served as director of merchandise planning.



• Amy Sveda, general manager for Abercrombie Kids. Sveda joined Abercrombie in May from Carter`s, where she helped revitalize the company`s OshKosh brand. Prior to this, she worked at Louis Vuitton where she launched the brand`s e-commerce site, and at Victoria's Secret, where she led various sub-brands within the broader business.



• Kristina Szasz, head designer for Abercrombie Womens. Szasz will join the company in late September from PVH in Europe, where she served as design director for denim at Karl Lagerfeld and Tommy Hilfiger. Throughout her career, she has held a number of creative director and critical design roles for companies such as Lee, Dockers, Iceberg, Nike, Ralph Lauren and Emilio Pucci.

The company, which also owns the Hollister casual clothing brand, has been hurt by intense competition from "fast-fashion" retailers.