Lands’ End Still Making Its Way After Divorce From Sears

(Nicholas Eckhart)

The new CEO of Lands’ End, who came to the company from high fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana, wasn’t a customer of the company before she went to work there because she wanted their classic basics for her own wardrobe. No, she shopped there to get her kid’s school uniforms. Now she’s leading the company into its future after the divorce from Sears Holdings.

Fortune magazine interviewed new CEO Federica Marchionni, who explained that she didn’t see much that looked appealing for her when she went to pick up her son’s school uniform. That’s bad: even fashion executives wear lounge pants and wool coats sometimes, don’t they?

Her plans involve expanding into more countries, and creating a women’s line that is “fitted and modern” among the chinos and floral cashmere cardigans. She also has very concrete plans like marketing their swimsuits more aggressively year-round in temperate areas of the country where people go swimming year-round.

The company’s future is still tied up with that of Sears: 235 of its stores are still mini-stores inside of the local Sears. So far, they only have 14 standalone Lands’ End stores in the U.S. It’s hard to build a brand identity separate from Sears when you are still physically located inside Sears and using Sears cash registers.

Lands’ End CEO on her post-Sears plan: “I am here to move the needle” [Fortune]