Montreal-based outerwear and fashion brand Moose Knuckles announced Wednesday that Victor Luis had been appointed CEO after serving a role as Executive Chairman and working along-side co-owners Noah Stern and Ayal Twik for several months. Luis has had a notable career including having been formerly CEO of Coach Inc. while leading the transformation to Tapestry Inc. which also owns Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman.
Both Stern and Twik will lead the creative aspects of Moose Knuckles — Stern has assumed the role of Chief Product Officer while Twik is now the company’s Chief Marketing Officer. Prior to the announcement Stern and Twik were co-CEOs of Moose Knuckles. Both will retain their board seats and maintain their respective shares of ownership in the company.
Moose Knuckles said in a statement that the appointment of Luis as CEO is part of the plan to expand the brand globally after seeing considerable success with both its wholesale accounts as well as direct-to-consumer stores. Moose Knuckles opened its first standalone store in 2017 at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre and has since opened more locations in Canada and globally with plans for even more from a source Retail Insider recently spoke with at the company.
“I am super excited to be able to focus full time on what I love which is driving culture, brand building and fostering consumer engagement,” said Twik in a statement. “I could not be more thrilled about our quickly increasing growth and scale and the strong teams we have in place to execute our strategies. This change in corporate structure will allow me to focus on areas I am passionate about.”
I could not be more proud of the global luxury brand we have built and the exceptional products we continue to bring to market,” said Stern in a statement, “Our coats and parkas are rated as the world’s warmest, and as we expand our offering into other seasons, I am so charged to focus all my energies on continuing to break boundaries in creating killer fashion products of the highest quality. All of our teams are excited to bring innovative products and experiences to Moose Knuckles’ fans across the world.”
Twik and Stern added, “Victor is one of the rare leaders in the industry – one who has a commercial view to business while maintaining and inspiring a deep respect and passion for the creative process. We admire the way he thinks about business, luxury, culture, and the fashion industry as a whole. He also shares our belief in the importance of a culture-led company that is focused on creating memorable consumer experiences one client at a time. We have a strong management team in place and are excited to have Victor as the company’s Chairman and CEO as we prepare to capture the tremendous opportunity ahead for long-term global brand growth.”
Moose Knuckles recently announced several environmental and social initiatives focusing on the long-term sustainability of the brand’s global footprint. The company also recently announced the end of production with natural fur by end of 2022 as was discussed in a recent podcast in Retail Insider.
Over the past five years, Moose Knuckles has seen double-digit year-over-year growth. Last year the brand saw a nearly triple-digit increase in direct-to-consumer sales along with a 12x growth rate in China despite the pandemic.
“There has never been a more exciting time for branded luxury outerwear and Moose Knuckles is poised to become the next big player in the global market,” said Luis in a statement. “My family’s increased equity investment is a reflection of our excitement over what we have learned during the last several months and the tremendous opportunity for growth ahead of us. Moose Knuckles’ recent organizational changes are built to capture and accelerate growth as we continue to recruit top talent and transform systems and processes to support the brand’s global expansion and elevate our capacity to execute at the highest levels.”
Moose Knuckles parkas and fashions are distributed in over 30 countries in upscale retailers. The company said in a statement that it plans to expand its footprint to over 35 stores and pop-ups while also beefing up its e-commerce business.
Moose Knuckles is currently hiring for various roles with more information available at its LinkedIn careers page.
