The chair and CEO of Tapestry (TPR +1.80%), the parent of designer brands Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman, abruptly resigned from both positions today for "personal reasons." In March he had said he intended to remain with Tapestry for the next three years.
The leather goods company tapped its CFO to temporarily fill the vacancy and will immediately launch a candidate search to find a permanent replacement.
Image source: Getty Images.
A revolving C-suite door
Tapestry has suffered from turmoil in the executive suite for over a year. In February 2019, CFO Kevin Wills resigned to take on the same role at a new company, and then a year later CEO Victor Luis also suddenly resigned.
Jide Zeitlin, who was serving as Tapestry's board chairman, was appointed to fill the CEO position, and in an attempt to show some corporate stability, declared he would stay on for several years.
That lasted all of four months, though Tapestry did not elaborate on the personal nature of his resignation.
Filling in at the retailer will be Joanne Crevoiserat, who took on the CFO role last August, although she did not have an accounting background. Rather, she served as COO of Abercrombie & Fitch and Tapestry sought to utilize her experience with global brands as it sought to increase its own international focus.
Susan Kropf, the company's lead independent director, will become board chair, and Tapestry said it has begun the search to find a permanent CEO replacement, which will include internal and external candidates.
