Custom menswear brand J.Hilburn names Simon Kneen as chief creative officer

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Jan 25, 2019

Custom menswear brand J.Hilburn has named Simon Kneen chief creative officer, a newly created role at the company.

In his new role, Kneen will oversee creative direction across all customer touch-points, including collection design, styling and showroom presentations to retail stores.

Prior to joining the company, Kneen served as creative design director for the Retail Brand Alliance, where he managed the Brooks Brothers and Adrienne Vittadini brands. In addition, he has also served as the executive vice president of design and creative director for Banana Republic, overseeing collaborations with brands like MadMen, L'Wren Scott and Narciso Rodriguez.

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Earlier in his career, Kneen worked as head designer for the French ready-to-wear house, Balmain, in the late 1990s.

Kneen joins J.Hilburn's other executives, including chief executive officer Andy Janowski, a former COO of Burberry and CEO of Smythson; chief operating officer Joe Dixon, a former CEO of Size Stream and senior vice president of Brooks Brothers; and James Burgess, the brand's vice president of stylist development.

"I was attracted to J.Hilburn's unique direct-to-consumer business model that provides a very high-quality and customized product at a much more accessible price point," said Kneen in a release. "This marries to one of my own philosophies around design that everyone should be able to wear beautiful pieces without breaking the bank and that can be worn well beyond one season."

Kneen will also continue in his role as creative director of his own brand, Grey New York Grey New England, a luxury accessories collection made in Italy.