Former Guess CEO Víctor Herrero to join Clarks board

Víctor Herrero comes back home. The Spanish executive, CEO of Guess until last February, has crossed the ocean again to join the board of the historic British footwear group Clarks, as market sources confirmed to MDS. That way, Herrero returns to Europe four years after leaving Inditex, where he began his career in the fashion business.

Bachelor in Law from the University of Zaragoza, graduate in Business Administration from Escp Europe and MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Herrero has more than two decades of experience working between Europe and Asia. Trained at Inditex talent team, the executive was responsible for the Spanish giant’s business in Asia Pacific during ten years and General Manager in China. Previously, Herrero had worked for the audit company Arthur Andersen, also in Asia.

In 2015, Herrero took the reins of Guess as CEO in a tumultuous period for the group, which had accumulated three years of falling sales and losses.

Víctor Herrero joined Guess in 2015 coming from Inditex, where he was Head of Asia Pacific

During his time at the head of the company, the executive managed to improve its results, reorganize its retail network, uplift the multi-brand and focus on the online channel. In fiscal year 2018, the last with Herrero, Guess soared its profit by 37%, to 80.4 million dollars and rose its revenue by 10%, to 2.6 billion dollars.

Once the restructuring process was completed, Herrero left Guess in February and was replaced by Carlos Alberini. After his departure, Herrero continues to be linked to the fashion business and has joined the board of Global Fashion Group, the company that jointly operates Rocket Internet e-commerce platforms for emerging countries, where he also chairs the sustainability committee.

The executive now joins Clarks’ board in a decisive moment for the company. Clarks, which is one of the largest footwear firms in the world, signed in February Giorgio Presca, former Chief Executive Officer of the company specialized in luxury sneakers Golden Goose, as the new CEO.

The executive is also board member of Global Fashion Group, the Rocket Internet subsidiary that operates the e-commerce platforms for emerging markets

“Clarks faces the challenges of today’s competitive markets, changing distribution channels and the need to adapt to a rapidly-evolving consumer environment, but has the competences and assets to return to sustainable growth and profitability in the course of the next few years,” declared Presca in the statement in which the signing was announced.

Founded in 1825 in the British village Street, where it still has its headquarters, Clarks registers a revenue of 1.5 billion pounds per year and operates in one hundred countries, totaling more than 22,000 points of sale. The company employs 13,000 people around the world.