Next’s long-standing chief exec, Simon Wilfson, is set to become the Chairman of Reiss, replacing its founder, according to reports.
David Reiss established his eponymous fashion, and now beauty, business in 1971, in which Next acquired a 25% stake in March this year, with the option to extend to a 51% majority share until July 2022.
Emerging as one of the retail winners of the pandemic, the high street chain opened a handful of dedicated beauty and home stores throughout the latter months of 2020, snapping up failed bricks-and-mortar destinations for a marked down price.
Prior to implementing Next’s own beauty strategy, Wolfson also bought out the UK arm of Victoria’s Secret.
Meanwhile, his new role at Reiss comes months after he took his first directorship outside of Next in 30 years, in which he joined the Board at Deliveroo.
Wolfson also has ties to some of Reiss’ top bosses, including CEO Christos Angelides, who worked at Next for 28 years.
Angelides is thought to be staying at the fashion house’s helm.
At the time of the acquisition, Wolfson said: “Reiss is an outstanding brand with enormous potential and a first class management team.
“We are excited to see what can be achieved through the combination of Reiss’ exceptional product, marketing and brand building skills with Next’s Total Platform infrastructure.”
