Christopher Harlan Email & Phone Number

Los Angeles, Ca, Us

Corte Madera, Ca, Us

Consultant and Business Advisor, providing interim executive leadership in the Fashion, Accessories, Hospitality, and Home Furnishings industries. Leveraging over 25 years of expertise building and shaping some of the worlds most iconic, coveted, and experiential brands during periods of significant growth and transformation. Partner closely with company Founders, Private Equity Investors, Board of Directors, and Management Teams across a variety of verticals; unlocking growth, profitability, and enhanced customer experiences. Areas of focus range from Strategy and Long Range Planning, to Design, Merchandising, Product Development, Operations, and Talent. Engagements span from single point discussions and advisory sessions to more extended terms.

New York, Ny, Us

P&L accountability for the Men’s business. Led Men’s Merchandising and Global Product Development across North America, Europe, Japan, China, and Licensing markets. Tapped by Gap Inc CEO to drive product turnaround efforts for this 50 year old iconic American brand. Successfully stabilized multi-year negative sales and margin performance in less than 12 months, repositioning the brand towards its previous Denim leadership position. Reset assortment architecture with a renewed focus on product quality, and fewer, bigger, better ideas. Breakthrough product innovation built around sustainability, a Denim first focus, elevated modern essentials, and optimistic color. Recognized for leading and driving both cultural and process improvement across the brand. Incubator of talent. Executive Sponsor of Gap Inc’s industry leading Retail Management Program (RMP).

Marina Del Rey, Ca, Us

P&L accountability for the luxury lifestyle brand across Digital, Wholesale, and 50 Retail Stores globally. Led the brands product and business strategy across key functional areas of Design, Merchandising, Sales, Planning & Allocation, Product Development, Production, Sourcing, Direct To Consumer, and Operations. Developed and implemented the brands long range plan, leading the business through a high growth phase of category expansion (Home Furnishings, Furniture, Accessories), Omni-Channel integration, development of a new Hospitality Resort concept in Mexico, and retail store expansion. Key point of contact for the company Founder on day to day business operations.

Denver, Co, Us

Chief Merchant for the Splendid & Ella Moss contemporary lifestyle brands across Women’s, Men’s, Kid’s and Baby. Drove the development and alignment of the brands global product strategy across Digital, Wholesale, Retail Stores, and Licensing. Built the Merchandising team from the ground up, defined the role, and successfully integrated the function into the organization. Tapped post acquisition to develop the Merchandising competencies for the brand. Joined 3 months after the company Founder had left the business, influencing both cultural and process change across the business. In addition to Merchandising for the brands, led the Men’s Design and Sales teams.

Marina Del Rey, Ca, Us

Chief Merchant, and inaugural Vice President for the luxury lifestyle brand across Women’s, Men’s, Kid’s, Baby, Home Furnishings, and Accessories. Led the expansion of the Direct To Consumer channel, expanding the retail store base 2X, launching the brands digital presence JamesPerse.com, opening Flagship Stores in Malibu and Beverly Hills, as well as the brands first International Stores. Developed and launched the Y/OSEMITE freestanding Active and Wellness sub-brand. Developed the Resort channel of distribution with the Four Seasons Hualalai. Created and implemented reporting metrics and tools to monitor sales and inventory positions across all channels of the business. Reduced unproductive SKU’s by -30%. Developed fabric platforming initiatives across the supply chain, improving reorder speed to market by 4 weeks. In addition to Merchandising, led the Visual Merchandising and Graphic Design teams. Member of the Executive Leadership Team and key point of contact for the company Founder.

New York, Us

Head Merchant with full sales and margin accountability for the global Men’s business. Repositioned the product assortment and overall brand esthetic into a more refined casual brand with global appeal. Successfully reversed a negative comp sales trend by focusing product assortments, improving product fit, quality, and introducing higher price point Sweater, Suiting, and Outerwear categories. Partnered with Planning on reducing unproductive inventory and improving turn. Recruited and trained a new Merchandising team from the bottom up. Only department in the company with zero turnover. Hands on involvement in all areas of product development.

Columbus, Oh, Us

Head Merchant with bottom line financial accountability for the global Men’s and Boy’s Denim business for the Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, Abercrombie Kids, and Ruehl brands. Tapped by then CEO Mike Jeffries to pioneer a new organizational structure leveraging category management across multiple brands, under one Chief Merchant. Partnered with Design to ensure that each brand had interpreted trend in a unique way. Managed all aspects of Product Development, Production and Sourcing. Traveled extensively monitoring production and nurturing key vendor relationships.

San Francisco, California, Us

-DMM Men’s Apparel & Accessories, Banana Republic, June 2004 – October 2004-DMM Men’s Woven Product & Accessories, Old Navy, August 2003 – June 2004-Merchandise Manager Men’s Denim, Bottoms & Outerwear, Old Navy, September 2001 – August 2003-Senior Merchandiser Baby Boys Division, Old Navy, April 2001 – September 2001-Senior Merchandiser Men’s Knits, Graphics, and Active, Gap, 2000 – 2001-Merchandiser Men’s Knits, Gap, 1999 – 2000 -Assistant Merchandiser Men’s Bottoms & Outerwear, Old Navy, 1998 – 1999 -Merchandising Trainee Men’s Bottoms, Old Navy, 1997 – 1998-Field Leadership Roles, Gap Kids/Baby Gap, 1990 – 1997