The C

When Joanne Crevoiserat joined Tapestry as chief financial officer in August of 2019, she knew that some challenges lay ahead. The New York fashion conglomerate, which had shed Coach as its corporate brand name in 2017 after acquiring Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman, was struggling. Its share price was half what it was a year earlier, with factors like disappointing sales and the suicide of Spade’s eponymous founder weighing on investors.

Then came a global pandemic and fresh headlines about an old scandal that prompted Jide Zeitlin to resign as chairman and CEO of Tapestry in July 2020. Crevoiserat was named interim CEO, a promotion that was made permanent a few months later. The retail veteran since brought the company to double-digit growth and a place in conversations around innovation, sustainability and - of course - fashion.

She sat down with Forbes to discuss her career and perspective on the industry.

Having worked at five divisions of May Company in five cities taught her the importance of “staying close to your customer and really understanding the the retailing business.” At the same time, the disruption of the department-store business taught her the importance of innovating, ahead of technology and fashion trends. “If you're selling a commodity, it became even more difficult to attract a customer.”

“Consumers are voting more with their values; they want to align themselves a brand that reflects their own,” says Crevoiserat. “They don’t want to wear your product as a badge. They want to wear your product to express their own individuality.”

That means those who work for the brand have to be authentic, too. At Kate Spade, a brand that evokes an almost frenetically fun view of feminism with its candy-colored bags and you-go-girl quotes, that’s meant bringing in a more sober acknowledgement of the challenges in maintaining mental health. “They've just opened and supported wellness pods on HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and University) campuses, notes Crevoiserat. “Targeting mental well-being is core to what the brand really is.”

One of most important factors in success, she argues, is empathy: for the employees on the front lines, the consumers who want fashions that are exciting and sustainable, and for yourself.

“I used to say I'm a runner. I now call myself a jogger because it's gotten much slower,” she says. “As we talk to our teams, it is important to take the time to make sure you're taking care of yourself in a way that can keep you centered.”

Click on the interview above to get Crevoiserat’s insights on how she’s leading in a tough climate by focusing on data, talent and customers to transform Tapestry’s brands.