Former H&M creative duo leave Esprit

By

Bruno Joly

Published
Feb 27, 2013

Jan Nord and Jörgen Andersson, Artistic Director and Brand Director respestively, will be leaving Esprit in the spring and will continue to act as consultants until the summer. The duo, who arrived at Esprit at the end of 2010 after a stint at H&M, will not be replaced.

According to Esprit’s European head office in Ratingen the reason for the departure is simple: the job has been done. The two have laid down the foundations for the new collections, campaigns and concept stores meaning Arndt Mueller, Vice President of Marketing, can now proceed with the implementation of the brand repositioning. Melody Harris-Jensbach, Chief of Product and Design officer at Esprit, will also provide support in this mission. Before Nord and Andersson arrived in 2010, their positions had not previously existed at the company.

CEO Jose Manuel Martinez has today announced a record loss for period of July to December 2012, with marketing costs proving to be major contributor to this loss. In the first half of this financial year, money spent on marketing and publicity has already dropped by 18.2% to 579 million Hong Kong dollars, or approximately 58 million euros.