Wolford has appointed Ralf Polito as the new Chief Operating Officer (COO).
The Austrian clothing supplier announced on Monday that he will take up his new position as a member of the management board on July 1, 2023. The Supervisory Board has appointed him a member of the Management Board for two years.
As COO, Polito is responsible for supply chain and production, legal, investor relations, IT and PMO. He follows up Paul Kotrbawho has held this role on an interim basis since August after the paths of COO Andrew Thorndike and the legwear specialist parted ways at the end of July. Thorndike has held the position since Fall 2019. Since Resignation of CEO Axel Dreher At the end of October 2019, he will manage the company together with the second board member, Silvia Azzali. Were in May last year the contracts of the management duo have been extended until the end of 2024. Polito will also lead the company alongside CCO Azzali, who joined the board in November 2019. Before that, she was Global Sales & Merchandising Director at Wolford.
New COO comes from Eterna
Polito is currently still active at the Passau-based shirt and blouse specialist Eterna, according to his Linkedin profile. He has been COO there since December 2018. Before that, he worked in various positions at the lingerie specialist Triumph, most recently as Head of Global Project Management and Finance Supply Chain, and as a financial controller at the Metzingen-based clothing retailer Hugo Boss.
In the first half of the 2022 financial year, the subsidiary of the Chinese fashion group Lanvin Group made strong progress in terms of sales. Nevertheless, the company had to post a significantly higher loss due to adverse conditions interim report from the end of September.