Orlebar Brown | Better Placed

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Our brief

Orlebar Brown is a well-established and rapidly growing luxury menswear brand who has gained global recognition for its innovative designs, influential lifestyle approach and attention to sustainable operations.

During an incredible period of expansion and achievement, including an exciting acquisition by Chanel, the brand wanted to hire an experienced production leader who would oversee all of their supply chain and sustainability strategies.

The individual would be responsible for one of the most significant divisions in the business; overseeing the product life cycle from the development stages to delivery across multiple revenue channels to market – wholesale, online, retail and franchise.

Our approach

The individual who would be suited to this role would require knowledge of the product journey and a good commercial understanding of business operations because they would need to interact with other stakeholders across marketing, digital and sales to understand the go-to-market strategy.

We focused the search on production executives in the premium casualwear and luxury fashion industry. Because Orlebar Brown was going through a period of growth and transformation, we needed a candidate who would be robust, agile and adaptable to an evolving remit.

Knowledge of supply chain operations with a network of manufacturers in Europe was key. This person would be overseeing the development of garments across ready-to-wear and accessories in both casual and sports fabrics so needed to understand functional, technical and fashion production. We examined all businesses in the fashion and sports sector operating between £50m and £200m in revenue whose production teams were based in London, New York, Paris, Milan, Sweden and Denmark.

The outcome

We were able to give Orlebar Brown a selection of candidates from each target sector but it was Sarah Kirkham who was the successful candidate. Sarah was experienced in design, product development and production and during a year long project at her previous company; she studied and implemented a sustainability program which resonated with Orlebar Brown.

Culturally, the fit was perfect. Reporting to the CEO, Sarah is already making a positive impact to the company; implementing good practices, systems and guidelines for internal stakeholders, external partners and the Chanel Group.