Wendy Kahn Email & Phone Number

New York

Current role and 2018 - Aug 2020Highly skilled executive strategist. Data-driven client-centric decisionmaker able to combine art and science. Quickly cultivate cross-functional partnerships within small to large client organizations. Execute targeted value assessments and identify growth and efficiency opportunities. Lead key stakeholders to co-create, re-imagine and position product and business as market leader.• Diagnose market distribution strategy for both existing brands in need of revitalization and start-up brands entering markets (DTC, wholesale, hybrid) • Partner with internal teams and external consultants to analyze and define ecommerce goals, growth opportunities, competitive landscape and ROI• Identify and quantify sales and marketing opportunities with new and established brands, repositioning them through new market entry, existing realignment, product innovation, and expanded categories and assortments• Engage with internal merchandising and inventory management functions to define strategies based on client goals and objectives and brand partners’ authority and DNA, balanced against anticipated market conditions• Lead brand’s redevelopment, partnering with creative, commercial and marketing teams to develop unique brand codes. Define and lead 360' rollout, bringing codes to life through products, marketing, storytelling, digital intersections, store concepts and collaborations

New York, New York, United States

• Hired by Public Clothing founder to lead the charge in creating a new stand-alone branded division• Partnered with creative founders and design teams to drive growth in highly competitive advanced contemporary market• Built and led organization creating structure to scale• Made key hires in merchandising, sales, digital, production, marketing and design, creating in-house expertise that brought back confidence in the brand, reinvigorating distribution and sell-throughs, building credibility• Provided strategic guidance to ecommerce platform relaunch, focusing on growing digital to achieve a more balanced revenue stream, reducing reliance on wholesale as primary channel• Established new brand DNA, brand codes and storytelling• Repositioned and revitalized 10 Crosby in advanced contemporary division to leverage brand awareness and redirect to more scalable lifestyle opportunities; focused merchandising, production and design to relaunch a standalone denim capsule within the Brand

Greater New York City Area

Recruited to assume full P&L responsibility for a $350+ million business with 100 directly-owned stores globally, wholesale channel, international partners, and an organization of 800+ employees. Identified opportunities to gain market share and evolve the brand. Created short- and long-term strategies to transform from a wholesale manufacturer into a multi-category, multi-channel lifestyle brand with expansion into Handbags and Fashion Jewelry. Collaborated with Creative Director and Chief Marketing Officer, establishing new brand ethos through development of emotional, distinctive, and recognizable DNA. • Initiated and developed a new corporate culture, transitioning the organization from founder-led to leader-led • Spearheaded core Footwear business transformation to expand from boots and sandals to include full Footwear offering • Conceptualized “Culture of Design,” fostering design ideas throughout all cross-functional departments • Identified and developed an emotional connection with customers through brand codes, focusing on a distinctive identity differentiating Stuart Weitzman from its competitors• Developed marketing strategies to retain core customer base while attracting a new generation of customers

New York

Full P&L responsibility directing North America headquarters team of 100+, a 30+ store network, and a total organization of 400+. Collaborated with Italian Headquarters, Creative Directors, and Design, Merchandising, Marketing, Communications and Store Planning Teams. Created infrastructure, drove growth and profitability. Led transformation of Valentino North America from an Haute Couture House to a contemporary relevant lifestyle brand for women and men. Launched Red Valentino, an accessible women’s ready to wear brand, to broaden the house’s customer base and strengthen visibility.• Worked successfully with multiple ownership structures and management models from founder to private equity to private ownership• Drove growth and profitability. Responsible for over $250 million in revenues, growing revenues by over 400%• Achieved YOY revenue growth and substantially improved margins by realigning channel mix, reorganizing corporate structure, rebalancing merchandise mix, and streamlining costs• Transformed brand’s Haute Couture heritage into a contemporary multi-category, multi occasion lifestyle brand through the development of Ready-to-Wear, Footwear, and Accessories businesses• Developed and implemented the brand’s ethos “Culture of Couture” throughout the entire organization, instituting formal guidelines and training, and imbedding into brand communication, PR, and marketing strategies to consistently support the global image and modernization of the House of Valentino

New York

New York

New York

New York

Executive Development Program

Bachelor Of Arts, Sociology, Cw Post College