Shop Direct appoints Emma Alexander as fashion director
Shop Direct, the owner of Very.co.uk and Littlewoods.com, has appointed Emma Alexander as fashion director.
Reporting to group product director and executive board member Sam Perkins, Alexander will head up Shop Direct’s branded and own brand clothing and footwear offerings.
Due to join the business on 9 July, Alexander was previously chief product officer at Jack Wills. During her time with the lifestyle fashion retailer, she led a 75-strong team and was responsible for all categories across buying, design and sourcing.
Prior to that, she spent four years as brand director at USC and four years at Marks & Spencer in senior fashion roles, including head of buying for men’s formalwear, footwear and accessories, and head of buying for the Per Una and Limited Collection brands in womenswear. Her experience also includes stints at Jaeger and River Island.
Sam Perkins, group product director at Shop Direct, said: “Emma is an exceptional fashion leader who’s consistently shown she knows her customer and the industry inside out. She builds great relationships and delivers commercial results, both in branded and own brand fashion.”
At Shop Direct, Alexander will oversee all fashion buying and design with a focus on strengthening the clothing and footwear category.
Alexander’s new role will also include developing Shop Direct’s brand portfolio where names include the likes of River Island, Mango, Hugo Boss and Armani. She will also be charged with driving the company’s sportswear offering and leading the ongoing development of Shop Direct’s own label V by Very, its most popular brand.
Perkins added: “She’s the perfect person to lead our clothing and footwear teams through the next phase of our transformation, as we continue to hone our portfolio of outstanding brands around our customer and build on the early success of V by Very.”
