Deckers Brands, which makes Ugg boots and Koolaburra by Ugg sandals, recently named Anne Spangenberg the brands’ new president of fashion lifestyle.
She succeeds Andrea O’Donnell, who left last September.
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Spangenberg previously was the global vice president of merchandising at Nike Inc. She will be focusing on product diversification, consumer adoption and franchise evolution. She will also serve on the executive leadership team, reporting to Dave Powers, the chief executive officer and president of Deckers Brands, based outside of Santa Barbara, California.
“Anne is a proven industry leader who has played a meaningful role in creating and transforming merchandising functions across categories, channels and markets,” Powers said. “Importantly, she brings to Deckers an innate understanding of the consumer and the ability to efficiently implement strategy in alignment with the latest fashion and lifestyle trends.”
Spangenberg said she was excited to join the team, “With significant opportunity ahead for Ugg, I look forward to driving this already immensely successful business toward its next level of growth,” she said in a statement. “The brand’s unique combination of strong consumer demand, a loyal and expanding customer base, and the ability to innovate both new and existing franchises gives me confidence in our capability to further elevate Ugg through disciplined and strategic global marketplace management while building on exciting levels of global brand heat.”
Deckers Brands has several labels in its portfolio. It is known for its Hoka running shoes, Sanuk casual shoes and its Teva sandals. But Ugg is the brand that generates the largest percentage of the company’s annual $3.15 billion in sales.
Last year, Deckers was hit with huge shipping costs that were $100 million over normal, according to earnings results shared with analysts.
Price hikes at Hoka and Ugg are planned this year to mitigate the effect of higher shipping costs. Deckers said it planned to use air freight this year for most of the Hoka brand to fill in production gaps due to factory disruptions.
By brand, Ugg net sales last year rose 24.7 percent to $374.6 million, while Hoka increased 59.7 percent to $283.5 million. Deckers’ Teva brand saw net sales fall 8.8 percent to $54.8 million, while Sanuk sales dipped 1.7 percent to $11.9 million. Other brands, primarily Koolaburra by Ugg, saw net sales increase 2.4 percent to $11.2 million.
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