Steve Shiffman, currently president and chief commercial officer of Calvin Klein Inc. (New York), and formerly president of the retail business, will become ceo as of July 1, 2014.
Current ceo Tom Murry will become executive chairman, serving in an advisory role to Shiffman for the remainder of the year.
The move accelerates the already planned departure of Murry, who had a hip replacement in January, by two years. According to Women’s Wear Daily, he felt like the company would be in capable hands with Shiffman, with whom he has worked closely for the past seven years.
According to Emanuel Chirico, chairman and ceo of parent company PVH Corp. (New York), “Calvin Klein has grown from $2.8 billion in global retail sales to close to $8 billion in 2013, having evolved from a licensed-only model to a more directly operated business.”
Chirico told WWD that Murry was instrumental in helping PVH acquire CKI in 2002 “and was a great partner working through the Warnaco acquisition and integration to date.”
In 22 years at PVH, Shiffman has overseen CKI’s global commercial operations, with direct oversight of North American retail and e-commerce businesses, Asia-Pacific and Latin American operations, as well as global licensing and creative services. Earlier, Shiffman served as group president and chief operating officer of PVH Retail, where he oversaw the company’s retail divisions; and as president and chief operating officer of Calvin Klein Retail, where he headed all aspects of retail apparel and the accessories business, including design, sourcing, merchandising, planning, distribution and visual marketing.