logo
J.McLaughlin names Greg Unis as CEO

J.McLaughlin names Greg Unis as CEO

Fashion Network28-07-2025
American lifestyle brand J.McLaughlin has appointed Greg Unis as chief executive officer, following his tenure as interim CEO since March.
In this role, Unis will oversee all facets of the business, building on the strong foundation established by co-founder Kevin McLaughlin and the current leadership team. With nearly 200 stores and a growing digital footprint, J.McLaughlin plans to expand its product offerings across women's & men's apparel and accessories, and deepen its connection with its customer base.
"Greg's passion for design and brand-building make him the right leader for this pivotal moment," said McLaughlin. "He understands what makes J.McLaughlin special and brings a fresh perspective to help us further engage with our customers and stay true to our roots.'
A seasoned fashion and retail executive with over 25 years of industry experience, Unis brings a strategic, customer-focused mindset and a proven track record in merchandising, design, product, and global strategy. Prior to J.McLaughlin, he served as president of Victoria's Secret and Pink and held senior leadership roles at Coach, Brooks Brothers, and Gap Inc. Unis also joined the company's Board of Directors in January.
"We're entering a new era," said Unis. "I'm honored to be part of the brand's evolution. I look forward to introducing it to new audiences and continuing to delight our existing ones. Alongside Kevin and our incredible team, we'll scale the business, drive creativity across all areas - product, marketing, and customer experience - and continue delivering on the timeless style and warm, personal service that define J.McLaughlin."
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Trump tariffs a stone in the shoe of 'made in USA' cowboy boots
Trump tariffs a stone in the shoe of 'made in USA' cowboy boots

Fashion Network

time6 hours ago

  • Fashion Network

Trump tariffs a stone in the shoe of 'made in USA' cowboy boots

The manufacture of iconic "made in the USA" cowboy boots is set to suffer from President Donald Trump 's 30% tariffs on South African exports that came into force in August. Texas's most renowned makers of the southern US fashion staple source the ostrich leather they require exclusively from the small South African town of Oudtshoorn, 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Cape Town. Known as the world's "ostrich capital", Oudtshoorn is nestled in the semi-arid Little Karoo valley just inland from the southern coast and is home to a few hundred thousand people and about as many of the giant flightless birds. "We just don't know how bad the impact will be, but positive it wouldn't be," said ostrich farmer Laubscher Coetzee of the tariffs that kicked in after South Africa appeared unable to negotiate a new trade deal with Trump. More than half of the global supply of ostrich-derived products -- from feathers to leather and meat -- comes from nearly 200 farmers around Oudtshoorn who are joined in the Cape Karoo International (CKI) group, said its managing director Francois de Wet. South Africa as a whole supplies about 70% of the world's production, he said. Luxury handbag manufacturers in France and Italy are among the CKI's main clients. It also ships 20% of its ostrich leather to top Texas bootmakers such as Lucchese, Justin and Rios of Mercedes, whose boots are sold at several hundreds of dollars a pair. Ostrich is "an extremely important leather in our industry", Ryan Vaughan, CEO of the Rios of Mercedes manufacturer, told AFP. "It's very resilient, it forms to the foot," he said, wearing a typical cowboy hat. Coming from "a long line of cattle ranchers", his family brand was born in Texas in 1853 and employs 250 people. The tariffs "would make a dramatic impact in our business and in the western industry," he said, "because it's not just us that build a lot of cowboy boots out of ostrich leather". It is also the case of Tony Lama, an El Paso bootmaker supplied by CKI that has given a pair to every recent Republican president. Donald Trump received cowboy boots emblazoned with "MAGA" made out of "American alligator" skin, according to a press release. De Wet from the CKI said he believed the South African supply of ostrich leather to the US manufacturers did not run counter to a push by the Trump administration for production to be brought home. The United States did not have enough ostriches to provide the required leather, he said. "We export the raw material, the ostrich leather. They can't produce it from local ostriches in the US. They don't have them," he told AFP. "They do all the value-adding in the United States," he said. "So therefore, in terms of the pure definition of what the Trump administration would like to see, in this case, we do it already." The soft skins, recognisable by spots left by the large ostrich feathers, are currently sold to American manufacturers for around $20 a square foot. "We exported more than the usual volume of ostrich leather to the US in the past two-three months, so we have a little bit of a buffer," said de Wet. "For the moment we don't expect any layoffs in the short term," he said. But "in the long term, if we have to pick up the full tariff, it will definitely... cause a shrinkage of our business." The consumer could also not be expected to pay an extra 30% for the already pricey boots, he said. "So the tariff will have to be split between the exporter... and the importer, and preferably also a part paid by the end consumer." It is the unique climate of the Little Karoo, which gets less than 400 millimetres (nearly 16 inches) of rain a year, that makes it ideal for ostrich rearing, said Coetzee, a fourth-generation Oudtshoorn farmer. "That is the reason the ostrich industry is still here 200 years after (it started)," he said. His great-grandfather built the family home in 1896, when the price of ostrich feathers rivalled that of gold because of their value to the women's fashion industry. The extravagant "ostrich palaces" of the time are a reminder of the industry's previous major crisis, when the market collapsed in the early 1900s as the arrival of the low-roofed motor car ended the fashion for high-feathered hats. Copyright © 2025 AFP. All rights reserved. All information displayed in this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the contents of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presses.

Trump tariffs a stone in the shoe of 'made in USA' cowboy boots
Trump tariffs a stone in the shoe of 'made in USA' cowboy boots

Fashion Network

time8 hours ago

  • Fashion Network

Trump tariffs a stone in the shoe of 'made in USA' cowboy boots

The manufacture of iconic "made in the USA" cowboy boots is set to suffer from President Donald Trump 's 30% tariffs on South African exports that came into force in August. Texas's most renowned makers of the southern US fashion staple source the ostrich leather they require exclusively from the small South African town of Oudtshoorn, 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of Cape Town. Known as the world's "ostrich capital", Oudtshoorn is nestled in the semi-arid Little Karoo valley just inland from the southern coast and is home to a few hundred thousand people and about as many of the giant flightless birds. "We just don't know how bad the impact will be, but positive it wouldn't be," said ostrich farmer Laubscher Coetzee of the tariffs that kicked in after South Africa appeared unable to negotiate a new trade deal with Trump. More than half of the global supply of ostrich-derived products -- from feathers to leather and meat -- comes from nearly 200 farmers around Oudtshoorn who are joined in the Cape Karoo International (CKI) group, said its managing director Francois de Wet. South Africa as a whole supplies about 70% of the world's production, he said. Luxury handbag manufacturers in France and Italy are among the CKI's main clients. It also ships 20% of its ostrich leather to top Texas bootmakers such as Lucchese, Justin and Rios of Mercedes, whose boots are sold at several hundreds of dollars a pair. Ostrich is "an extremely important leather in our industry", Ryan Vaughan, CEO of the Rios of Mercedes manufacturer, told AFP. "It's very resilient, it forms to the foot," he said, wearing a typical cowboy hat. Coming from "a long line of cattle ranchers", his family brand was born in Texas in 1853 and employs 250 people. The tariffs "would make a dramatic impact in our business and in the western industry," he said, "because it's not just us that build a lot of cowboy boots out of ostrich leather". It is also the case of Tony Lama, an El Paso bootmaker supplied by CKI that has given a pair to every recent Republican president. Donald Trump received cowboy boots emblazoned with "MAGA" made out of "American alligator" skin, according to a press release. De Wet from the CKI said he believed the South African supply of ostrich leather to the US manufacturers did not run counter to a push by the Trump administration for production to be brought home. The United States did not have enough ostriches to provide the required leather, he said. "We export the raw material, the ostrich leather. They can't produce it from local ostriches in the US. They don't have them," he told AFP. "They do all the value-adding in the United States," he said. "So therefore, in terms of the pure definition of what the Trump administration would like to see, in this case, we do it already." The soft skins, recognisable by spots left by the large ostrich feathers, are currently sold to American manufacturers for around $20 a square foot. "We exported more than the usual volume of ostrich leather to the US in the past two-three months, so we have a little bit of a buffer," said de Wet. "For the moment we don't expect any layoffs in the short term," he said. But "in the long term, if we have to pick up the full tariff, it will definitely... cause a shrinkage of our business." The consumer could also not be expected to pay an extra 30% for the already pricey boots, he said. "So the tariff will have to be split between the exporter... and the importer, and preferably also a part paid by the end consumer." It is the unique climate of the Little Karoo, which gets less than 400 millimetres (nearly 16 inches) of rain a year, that makes it ideal for ostrich rearing, said Coetzee, a fourth-generation Oudtshoorn farmer. "That is the reason the ostrich industry is still here 200 years after (it started)," he said. His great-grandfather built the family home in 1896, when the price of ostrich feathers rivalled that of gold because of their value to the women's fashion industry. The extravagant "ostrich palaces" of the time are a reminder of the industry's previous major crisis, when the market collapsed in the early 1900s as the arrival of the low-roofed motor car ended the fashion for high-feathered hats. Copyright © 2025 AFP. All rights reserved. All information displayed in this section (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the contents of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presses.

Brazil announces $5.5B in credits for exporters hit by US tariffs
Brazil announces $5.5B in credits for exporters hit by US tariffs

Euronews

time2 days ago

  • Euronews

Brazil announces $5.5B in credits for exporters hit by US tariffs

Brazil on Wednesday unveiled a plan to support local companies affected by a 50% tariff imposed by US President Donald Trump on several of the country's exports. Dubbed 'Sovereign Brazil,' the plan launched during a signing ceremony at the Planalto presidential palace in Brasilia provides for a credit lifeline of 30 billion reais ($5.5 billion), among other measures. Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva described the plan, which includes a bill to be sent to Congress, as a first step to help local exporters. 'We cannot be scared, nervous, and anxious when there is a crisis. A crisis is for us to create new things,' Lula said. 'In this case, what is unpleasant is that the reasons given to impose sanctions against Brazil do not exist.' Hours later, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new sanctions against at least two Brazilian officials, in a move the South American nation's health minister rebuked. Top congressional leaders attended Wednesday's ceremony at the presidential palace in Brasilia, a first in months, in a sign of growing political support for Lula in response to Trump. What does the plan entail? According to local media, Brazil's measures include postponing tax charges for companies affected by US tariffs and providing 5 billion reais ($930,000) in tax credits to small- and medium-sized companies until the end of 2026. It also includes expanding access to insurance against cancelled orders. While public purchases of items that could not be exported to the US are also included, Lula's government is also granting a one-year extension of tax credits for companies that import items so they can produce goods for exportation, a mechanism called 'drawback.' Trump has tied the 50% tariff on many imported Brazilian goods to the judicial situation of his embattled ally, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is currently under house arrest. Trump claims Bolsonaro is a victim of a political witch hunt, allegations Brazil denies. The Trump administration's accusations and trade tariffs against Brasilia have riled up the country's political climate and led to an increase in support and poll numbers for President Lula da Silva. On Wednesday, Lula once again said he and Trump have never spoken and claimed the American president does not want to negotiate.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store