Juicy Couture Names Leann Nealz President and Chief Creative Officer

NEW YORK, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Juicy Couture today announced the appointment of LeAnn Nealz as President and Chief Creative Officer, effective prior to November 1, 2010. In this position she will be responsible for all creative elements of the business including product design, marketing and store design and will report to Edgar Huber, Chief Executive Officer of Juicy Couture.

Commenting on the announcement, Mr. Huber said: "LeAnn has shown extraordinary range throughout her career. From the designer world to vertical retailing, from apparel to accessories, from adults to children, she has demonstrated time and again her innate ability to balance design ideals with commercial, wearable product. When looking to fill this role it became abundantly clear that LeAnn's strong entrepreneurial instinct, exquisite taste, brand vision, marketing savvy, and outstanding design credentials align perfectly with the opportunity at Juicy Couture and we could not be more thrilled to have her."

Ms. Nealz joins Juicy Couture, from American Eagle, where she has been since 2004, serving as EVP, and Chief Design Officer. In her time there, Ms. Nealz has built and led a world-class team, and has been widely recognized for her ability to transform brands and make them both relevant and aspirational.  Ms. Nealz has been at the forefront of fashion design since she first began her career in Los Angeles as an international stylist working with a number of fashion brands, including Calvin Klein. She and Mr. Klein met when she began styling his Calvin Klein Jeans advertising campaigns, and ultimately became the Design Director for his eponymous denim brand. After four years with Calvin Klein, working also as a Design Director for the CK Sport brand, Ms. Nealz joined Gap as Senior Design Director, Banana Republic, where she played a key role in leading the vision for transforming that brand. In addition to holding Creative Director roles at Pepe Jeans and Nine West, Ms. Nealz was the original designer, working with Andrew Rosen, in creating Theory. In 2002, she returned to Gap as Senior Vice President, Design, Gap Baby and Gap Kids.

About Juicy Couture

Juicy Couture is the world's most irreverent, fun, and on-trend lifestyle brand for women and girls of all ages. Whimsical, confident, and feminine with an edge, Juicy Couture was founded in Los Angeles by two fashion-obsessed best friends. Known for making the track suit an icon of casual luxury, today Juicy Couture is a global phenomenon with an assortment that spans fashion apparel, handbags, shoes, intimates, swimwear, fragrance, accessories, sunglasses, yoga and baby. Juicy's newest collection, Bird by Juicy Couture, is an elevated assortment that meshes street-wear-chic with pedigreed luxury to create the quintessential wardrobe for the modern, downtown muse. Juicy Couture is available in the United States through approximately 100 Juicy Couture and Juicy Couture Outlet stores, in select department stores, and online at JuicyCouture.com. The World of Juicy is expanding at an unprecedented pace, and Juicy Couture is currently available in approximately 60 countries through retail destinations in the UK, EU, Middle East, and Asia.

SOURCE Juicy Couture