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With all the rolling heads staffing changes going on at Gap Inc., it's hard to keep track of who's in and who's out these days. But here's a new hire worth noting: Stefan Larsson, the former head of global sales at H&M, is coming on board as President of Old Navy this October, and it sounds like big changes are in store.
When the hire was first announced in April, it was framed as a decision based on Old Navy's impending global expansion. (The brand opened their first store outside of North Ameican in Tokyo last month, and by all reports the launch has been a success.)
But an otherwise unrelated article in today's WWD indicates that old Navy's expansion is going to include more of a design revamp than we orignally thought. Gap CEO Glenn Murphy told the trade publication that Old Navy is in for some major changes when Larsson starts in October. “He is coming in with a very strong perspective and position when it comes to product,” he said—conceptually as well as from a design and merchandising standpoint.
At the very least, we hope that translates to the end of the weird mannequin ads.
· Gap Profits Up 29% [WWD]
· Gap Is "Not Happy" With 2011 [Racked]