The previous Chief Operating Officer of Hugo Boss AG, Heiko Schäfer, is leaving the Metzingen-based fashion company and will become the new CEO of the Swiss outdoor brand Mammut.
Just this morning, Hugo Boss AG announced Schäfer’s departure and stressed that Schäfer was leaving the company of his own volition. However, Boss left it open where the manager is going. That has since been resolved. Mammut is the name of the new task, as the outdoor brand has just announced.
As a result of the departure, the Management Board of Hugo Boss AG has been reduced; there is no successor. The departments that have so far reported to Heiko Schäfer will be divided among the remaining board members. Global product development is the responsibility of CEO Daniel Grieder. CFO Yves Müller assumes responsibility for procurement, in-house production, logistics and sustainability.
Hugo Boss: Focus on process optimization
According to Hugo Boss, the company has made important strides under Schäfer’s leadership. For example, in the digitization and optimization of product development and logistics, the group’s own production was realigned in the course of the casualization trend and sustainability activities were further strengthened, for example by doubling the proportion of responsible styles in the collections.
“Heiko Schäfer has made a key contribution to making our operational business more effective, more digitized and more sustainable. In addition, his commitment helped to stabilize the company during the Covid-19 crisis and then to lead it back on the path of growth with full force,” says Hermann Waldemer, Chairman of the Hugo Boss Supervisory Board.
Back to the sports business
Schäfer only switched to Hugo Boss at the beginning of 2020 and was responsible for such important areas as global product development, procurement, in-house production, logistics and sustainability during the pandemic. He comes from Tom Tailor, where he was most recently Managing Director, and before that at Adidas where he also improved product development through speed and efficiency.
For Schäfer, the switch to the outdoor brand means a return to sport. He will take up his new position at Mammut Sports Group AG in September 2022. Greg Nieuwenhuys, who has headed Mammut as Executive Chairman on an interim basis since September 2021, will continue to work closely with Heiko Schäfer and Mammut as Chairman of the Board of Directors, the company announced.
Heiko Schäfer: “I am very happy to return to the world of sporting goods and to work for the iconic outdoor brand Mammut. I will focus all my energy and passion on working with the team to unlock Mammut’s full potential to make the brand even more attractive and accessible to mountaineering enthusiasts.”