Burberry, Moncler, Victoria's Secret Execs Map Growth at WWD CEO Summit

The 29th WWD Apparel and Retail CEO Summit opened Tuesday at Cipriani South Street in New York under the theme "The Great Reset," with chief executives from Burberry, Victoria's Secret, Moncler and Target laying out how they intend to grow while protecting brand equity.

The commercial throughline of day one: executives are spending on physical retail and brand differentiation, not just marketing, and they expect stores to do the work that media once did.

What did Burberry promise?

Josh Schulman, CEO of Burberry, framed the brand's reset as a layering exercise rather than a reinvention. "Burberry has always been at its best when it balances the heritage with innovation," he said, citing the Regent Street flagship as proof the formula works.

"We will continue to always be timeless but disrupting expectations," Schulman said. He offered no specific figures, timelines or product categories — a gap worth noting for anyone tracking whether the strategy translates into revenue.

How is Victoria's Secret rebuilding?

Hillary Super, CEO of Victoria's Secret, joined the company a little over two years ago and said the damage was visible before she arrived. "I could see that the brands had lost some of their luster. I could see that the brands had comingled in a lot of ways," she said.

She criticized the company's underuse of social media and modern marketing tools. What she found inside was a 30,000-person team that, in her words, "deeply love the brand and what it stands for." No financial targets were disclosed.

What is Target's growth strategy?

Daryl Glass, senior vice president of fulfillment and Last Mile at Target Corp., said the retailer is in its first year executing a new growth strategy built on "merchandise authority" — trend-right, differentiated assortment across owned brands, curated national brands, limited-time offers and key partnerships.

"It's our own brands, it's curated national brands, it's limited-time offers and key partnerships. All those things are relevant," Glass said.

Why is Moncler betting on stores?

Remo Ruffini, executive chairman of Moncler Group, credited global store openings with moving the brand beyond its skiwear roots. The company's 23,680-square-foot flagship on Fifth Avenue in New York anchors a portfolio spanning the Moncler Collection, the Grenoble high-performance mountain line and Genius, the collaborative offering.

That flagship — roughly half a football field of selling space — is the clearest capital commitment disclosed on day one.

How has the brand-building model changed?

Christian Louboutin declared the fashion press gatekeeper dead. "Obtaining the blessing of the fashion press is no longer an essential ingredient to growing a brand," he said, arguing that direct customer connection and strong retailer relationships have replaced media impact. He called the new arrangement "a safer, healthier and easier relationship."

Clare Hornby, founder and CEO of Me+Em, went further on method. "I hate focus groups, they kill ideas," she said. Her 21 stores supply the customer insight instead, feeding a philosophy built on four Fs: fair price-value, functional pieces, flattering silhouettes and options that last forever.

What did the multi-brand players say?

Libby Wadle, CEO of J.Crew Group, credited the customer, not the corporation, for current growth. "I think the customer is driving the growth and the product," she said, noting J.Crew serves a multigenerational customer and must appeal to her at different life stages.

Jonny Saven, CEO of L'Agence, positioned the brand as "somewhat of a beauty brand within her wardrobe" built on established trust.

Marco Balich, chairman and creative director of Balich Wonder Studios SpA — producer of Olympic and FIFA World Cup ceremonies — argued simplicity sells. "Simplicity can be super-cool and direct. That doesn't mean it has to be cheap, it can be a beautiful statement," he said.

Ronnie Fieg, founder, CEO and creative director of Kith, said value itself has been redefined: "Value has been destroyed. It's not just about product, but about mindshare." Kith has opened 22 stores over 15 years, with San Francisco and Washington, D.C., slated for next year — a deliberately slow rollout pace by big-box standards.

Whether heritage-plus-innovation formulas hold through a reset year will depend less on summit rhetoric and more on the store counts, assortments and customer data these executives deliver over the coming quarters.