FWRD, the luxury retailer operated by e-commerce company Revolve Group, has named model and actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley as its new fashion director.
In this role, she will lead merchandising and fashion curation, working closely with buying teams to consult on FWRD’s brand roster as well as seasonal campaigns, the company said.
Huntington-Whiteley’s hire builds on FWRD’s strategy of tapping celebrities in top corporate positions following its 2021 appointment of Kendall Jenner as creative director. Jenner has helped drive brand awareness, build industry credibility and deepen customer engagement through her monthly curated product list called Kendall’s Edit, for instance, as well as her visibility in cultural moments on behalf of FWRD, according to Raissa Gerona, chief brand officer at Revolve Group.
“Bringing celebrity talent into key functional roles allows us to tap into voices that are both deeply aspirational to our customer and backed by highly engaged communities, expanding our reach in a meaningful way,” Gerona told BoF in an email statement.
FWRD is not the only retailer that has leveraged starpower beyond traditional ambassador roles in recent years— at least in title. In September, Christian Louboutin named Jaden Smith as its first-ever men’s creative director, while Vans installed musician SZA in a similar newly minted artistic director post in August.
In practice, the amount of day-to-day work undertaken by celebrity employees varies widely. For FWRD, Jenner’s contribution — in tandem with its strategy of financial discipline, balanced approach to emerging and established brands, and a robust personal shopping programme — has yielded success.
Sales grew consecutively in the last four quarters year-over-year, and its gross profit surged 37 percent in its most recent quarter. As a number of luxury e-tail competitors including Ssense, LuisaViaRoma, Farfetch and Net-a-Porter have languished or faced consolidation over the past year, FWRD is positioning itself to capture more white space in the category.
“The players that have fallen on the wayside were focused on promotional activity that eroded margins, and that’s allowed us to focus on service, image and the bottom line,” Revolve co-founder and co-CEO Mike Karanikolas said in an interview last month.
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