River Island has appointed a returning Suzy Slavid as trading managing director, following Ben Lewis’s recent appointment of CEO for the privately-held UK fashion retailer.
Slavid was most recently CEO of Wyse London for two years, joining the premium womenswear brand in January 2023 but originally spent over 13 years at River Island (1999-2012) latterly as merchandise manager for kidswear and womenswear. She then joined women’s, men’s and kidswear group Boden in 2012 as director of merchandising and marketing before becoming its chief trading officer in 2019.
Her return, which was reported by Drapers, follows this month’s announcement that Ben Lewis, related to founder and business owner Bernard Lewis, will also return to the position of CEO. He was previously chief executive for almost a decade until 2019.
At the same time, executive chair Richard Bradbury announced he was stepping down from his role due to personal circumstances, the business said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Clive Lewis, son of Bernard Lewis, will also take on his previous role as non-executive chair, with immediate effect.
After swinging to a loss in 2023, River Island reportedly last month drafted in consultants from AlixPartners to focus on profit improvement with the latest managerial rejig expected to focus on the brand’s sustained revival.
