Lululemon restructures executive team

Lululemon Athletica’s chief product officer has left the company and other key executives are in new roles as the company looks to increase innovation and execute a 10 year vision.



The operator of 336 stores named expanded the responsibilities of CFO Stuart Haselden and he now adds the title of executive VP of operations. Haselden joined the company early this year after serving as CFO of J. Crew. The company has also initiated a search to fill the newly created position of chief supply chain officer.



Another key change involved the elimination of the chief product officer role and the departure of Tara Poseley who had joined the company in 2013 from Kmart. Meanwhile, the company created the new role of creative director and to fill it Lee Holman was elevated from his role as senior VP of women’s. In this new role, Holman will oversee both men’s and women’s product design and will report directly to Lululemon’s CEO, Laurent Potdevin.



“Standing out requires a fierce commitment to constant innovation in functional performance. Our unwavering dedication to a singular design vision and craftsmanship has made us the global market leader in the category we’ve created and continue to define,” Potdevin said. “Changes to the organizational structure, including the new role of creative director, are critical to executing upon our 10 year vision.”



Holman joined Lululemon in 2014 after holding design and leadership roles at Nike such as creative director of Nike Sportswear and most recently as VP of global apparel, innovation and equipment design men’s and women’s. Prior to Nike, Holman was creative director for brands such as Burberry, and spent several years at Abercrombie & Fitch, Levi Strauss & Co, and Paul Smith.



In another noteworthy promotion, the retailer of yoga-inspired apparel and accessories promoted Tom Waller from VP to senior VP of its innovation group called Whitespace. Waller will lead a team of scientists and engineers and will now report directly to CEO Potdevin to reinforce the company’s commitment to bring technical innovation to market. Wall joined Lululemon in 2012 and previously served as head of Aqualab at Speedo International.



Earlier this year, in another key move, Lululemon named Miguel Almeida executive VP of digital. Almeida joined the company from Walgreens where he served as group VP for digital commerce and mobile solutions. He also reports directly to Potdevin.