END. names Lea Cranfield to top buying and merchandising role

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 2, 2023

Luxury retailer END. Has named Lea Cranfield as its Chief Buying & Merchandising Officer as of this month, “responsible for driving [its] product strategy and leading the buying and merchandising functions”. 

She’ll join the senior executive committee and report directly to CEO Parker Gundersen.

Cranfield has an impressive track record having joined END. from Yoox Net-A-Porter Group (YNAP), where she was Chief Buying & Merchandising Officer for Net-a-Porter, Mr Porter and The Outnet.

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In that role she was responsible for the “planning and buying of all brands for the three websites, managing a team of over 270 people”.

She was at YNAP for close to a decade in total having begun there as Merchandising Manager for Mr Porter when it launched in February 2011. 

She’s also been at MatchesFashion as Commercial Director, as well as Liberty and Dover Street Market.

Cranfield described END. As “a unique retail brand with a great history and a strong reputation for being on the sharp point of fashion. The culture and energy of the company is really strong, and the teams are super creative and talented”. 

And she added that despite its fast growth, there’s still “a lot of untapped potential for the brand”.

Meanwhile, Parker Gundersen said that her “expertise and relationships will play a key role in evolving our contemporary and luxury fashion offering as well as developing our growing womenswear portfolio. Her omnichannel retail knowledge will help tremendously as we scale globally. Most importantly, she’s a great leader committed to the development of her people. Lea’s credibility in the buying community is truly unmatched and her character and authenticity makes her a perfect fit for END.”