Proenza Schouler has named Shira Suveyke Snyder as chief executive officer, effective Wednesday. She succeeds Kay Hong, who has been in the role since 2018 and will remain on the board of directors.
Suveyke Snyder has spent more than two decades in the luxury and fashion industry, with a strong focus on digital. Most recently, Suveyke Snyder did consultancy and advisory work with private equity firms, supporting the scaling of luxury portfolio companies. Earlier, she held executive roles at companies such as Shopbop where she was brand president, and Yoox Net-a-porter, where she was executive vice president and founding member of The Outnet, and J.Crew where she was vice president of menswear.
“We couldn’t be more excited to welcome Shira to Proenza Schouler. Shira is a world-class executive who instinctively understands our vision for how we see the brand developing in the next few years. She has the impressive leadership skills, the expertise and the passion needed to successfully enable the brand to reach its greatest potential. We are grateful to Kay for her leadership over the last six years, which has set a strong foundation as we embark on the next chapter of growth for Proenza Schouler,” said Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough, creative directors and cofounders of Proenza Schouler, in a statement.
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Proenza Schouler, which was founded in 2002, looks to benefit from Suveyke Snyder’s proven track record as a growth leader with a deep understanding of the luxury customer in a digital world. The company seeks to accelerate its growth through omnichannel expansion and category amplification. The company said it will continue to shift its strategic focus into brand-owned channels via e-commerce and brick-and-mortar, beginning with the opening of a store on Mercer Street in SoHo in New York in late 2024.
“I have a deep admiration for Jack and Lazaro, their creative vision and the extraordinary brand they have built. We have the unique opportunity to take the brand’s incredible momentum and expand on what Jack and Lazaro have built by owning our customer and our brand voice. I am tremendously excited to work alongside them in this next chapter of expansion for Proenza Schouler,” said Suveyke Snyder.
Hong joined Proenza Schouler in November, 2018 when Mudrick Capital Management, a distressed investment specialist, led the designers’ buyback of their company from a group led by financiers John Howard, Irving Place Capital CEO, Andrew Rosen and private equity firm Castanea Partners. With a reputation as a turnaround expert, Hong had previously worked at Talbots, Harry & David and Torrid, as well as Alvarez & Marsal before joining Proenza Schouler.
“I took it as an opportunity to grow a business that I don’t think had achieved its full potential — a brand with tremendous potential with two creative people that have, frankly, limitless potential. I think Jack and Lazaro are two of the most intriguing creative people out there, and so the opportunity to work with them was a huge part of the allure,” she told FN sister publication WWD a year after she joined in 2019.
Hong has been actively involved in the search for the incoming CEO.
Last month, Proenza Schouler jumped ahead of the official New York Fashion Week calendar and showed in the New York Mercantile Building two days before the official start. The date put the designers show ahead of Ralph Lauren’s Hamptons extravaganza the following night.
The designers held an intimate show, which was celebrity-free except for Kamala Harris‘ stepdaughter Ella Emhoff. As WWD reported, “If the show was quiet, the clothes were not, as the designers aimed to turn the page on the ubiquitous quiet luxury trend in favor of something a little more jazzy.” The collection focused on wearable pieces in “clever cuts with the craft, color, leather and print that are the brand’s tried and true selling points, as well as nods to the prep trend that’s in the ether.”
“This season we’re going back to the things that make us, us,” Hernandez told WWD at the time.
