Forever 21 has announced Winnie Park as chief executive officer (CEO) of the fashion brand. The appointment is effective immediately. Park joins Forever 21 from Paper Source, where she served as CEO for the past six years. She also led the successful sale of the brand to an affiliate of Barnes & Noble. Park will report to Marc Miller, CEO of SPARC.

Park’s tenure at Paper Source is marked by transforming the brand from a brick-and-mortar retailer to a lifestyle brand with a robust digital platform spanning social, digital content, online subscriptions, and affiliate partnerships. During her three-decade career, Park has brought leadership, strategic vision, and omni-channel brand experience across a variety of industries including fashion and retail. Prior to Paper Source, Park held high profile executive roles across e-commerce, global marketing, and fashion merchandising including a nine-year tenure at the Hong Kong-based international luxury retail leader, DFS, a division of LVMH. She started her career at McKinsey & Company San Francisco in fashion retail and consumer digital before joining Levi Strauss and Company to lead women’s merchandising for Dockers, the company said in a press release.

Park is currently on the board and audit committee of Dollar Tree, a publicly traded Fortune 500 retailer, where she brings a focus on omnichannel retail, and is on the board for women in retail leadership.  She has also served as an Independent Board Director and member of the compensation and governance and audit committees for Express, where she worked closely with the new management team on their strategic turn-around with a focus on their merchandising, e-commerce, and digital marketing initiatives.

Forever 21 has announced Winnie Park as chief executive officer (CEO) of the fashion brand. The appointment is effective immediately. Park joins Forever 21 from Paper Source, where she served as CEO for the past six years. She also led the successful sale of the brand to an affiliate of Barnes & Noble. Park will report to Marc Miller, CEO of SPARC.

A graduate of Princeton University, Park completed her bachelor’s degree from the School of Public and International Affairs with a minor in East Asian Studies, and holds an MBA in corporate finance and marketing from the Kellogg School of Management at NorthWestern University.

“We are thrilled to have Park join the Forever 21 team. She is an inspirational leader and team builder who brings deep omni-channel experience and a track record of successfully growing businesses with particular strengths in strategy, merchandising, marketing and branding. As CEO, she will add fresh perspective and approaches in connecting with the Forever 21 customer which will help drive Forever 21 from its current $2B sales level to new heights of success as a leading brand in SPARC’s fashion and lifestyle brand portfolio,” Marc Miller, CEO of SPARC, said in a statement.

“As a long-time shopper and admirer of the brand, I am honoured to join Forever 21 at such a pivotal time of reinvention and reinvigoration. I am looking forward to partnering with this exceptional leadership team to continue the transformation of this brand with a focus on the Forever 21 community including its people, purpose and business priorities across digital and traditional retail channels,” Park said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (GK)