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Dive Brief:
- DTC apparel brand Fair Harbor this month named Bethany Muths as president, a newly created role, per an email sent to Retail Dive.
- Muths most recently was chief marketing and customer officer for Mizzen+Main, and prior to that she was chief brand officer at Ivory Ella and head of brand North America for footwear brand Schutz.
- Muths’ appointment follows the closing of Fair Harbor’s brick-and-mortar store located in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City. The store opened in 2022 but was shuttered this past January.
Dive Insight:
Fair Harbor has been building out its team of experienced leaders.
In addition to Muths, the brand last fall named three top female retail executives to the company’s board of directors: Tracy Gardner, former J. Crew president; Silvia Mazzucchelli, former ModCloth, American Apparel and Guess executive; and Jennifer Olsen, former Caleres, UnTuckit and Crate and Barrel executive. The three joined the Fair Harbor board to help fuel the company's omnichannel growth, which presently is made up of DTC and wholesale partnerships with specialty retailers, including Nordstrom and Amazon. The brand is in over 500 retail doors, per the company.
Bethany Muths, president of Fair Harbor
Courtesy of Fair Harbor
“We are thrilled to welcome Bethany to the Fair Harbor team as our president,” Jake Danehy, Fair Harbor CEO and co-founder, said in an email. “As we celebrate our brand's 10th anniversary, it really feels like the perfect moment to bring her on board and take our business to the next level. We were thoroughly impressed with her extensive experience in marketing, merchandising, and planning, and feel confident that she will help us further our growth across all channels.”
Fair Harbor is known for using repurposed plastic bottles and other sustainable materials for its apparel. In addition to using recycled plastic bottles and keeping over 35 million plastic bottles out of waterways, Fair Harbor utilizes other sustainable materials such as organic cotton, recycled nylon, Tencel and Seawool. The brand’s denim are made from 12 repurposed plastic bottles and organic cotton, per a company spokesperson.
Fair Harbor in March 2022 announced it secured an unspecified investment from Broad Sky Partners, which was intended to be used for the brand’s expansion of new product lines, retail channels and sustainability initiatives. Fair Harbor to date has received three rounds of funding worth approximately $30.8 million, according to data from CrunchBase.
“The brand's environmental values align closely with my own, and I’m looking forward to contributing to its inspiring mission of creating comfortable, high-quality, sustainable products,” Muths said via LinkedIn.
The announcement of Muths as president follows a recent trend of brands naming new executives to top leadership roles. Those include Deckers Corporation promoting Marco Ellerker to the newly created position of president of global marketplace; Columbia naming Tricia Shumavon president of its prAna brand; and Stephen Brinkley becoming president of operations at Ross.
via https://www.aiupnow.com
Howard Ruben, Khareem Sudlow
