MANUFACTURING
New CEO Appointed at NYDJ Apparel
Los Angeles blue-jeans company NYDJ Apparel, formerly known as Not Your Daughter’s Jeans, has appointed Lisa Collier to take over the top job at the company.
Collier succeeds Robert Skinner, the former CEO, president and chairman at Kellwood Co., who two years ago was named NYDJ’s president and CEO. Skinner’s appointment came as Crestview Partners in New York and Maybrook Capital Partners in Los Angeles completed their $385 million acquisition of the apparel company from Falconhead Capital and the Rudes-Sandel family. In 2013, NYDJ had annual revenues of approximately $200 million a year.
Collier has a long history of working in the apparel industry. She most recently served as president of global at Dockers and chief transformation officer at Levi Strauss & Co., where she led the San Francisco–based company’s operational and strategic transformation across all brands, regions and channels. She also managed Dockers’ strategic vision as a member of the company’s executive leadership team.
Prior to Levi’s, she worked for Los Angeles–based Tarrant Apparel, where she was vice president of product development, planning and sourcing. Before Tarrant Apparel, she spent more than a decade in buying and merchandising at The Limited. She began her career in fashion and retail as a trainee at Hess’s Department Stores after graduating from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.
“Lisa has a rich knowledge of denim and retail as well as a track record of successfully transforming organizations for growth,” said Mackey McDonald, chairman of the NYDJ board of directors and senior adviser to Crestview Partners, NYDJ’s majority owner. “Moreover, Lisa has a unique blend of operational expertise coupled with strategic vision and palpable creative energy. We feel confident that her leadership and passion for building brands will help take NYDJ to new heights.” NYDJ was founded in 2003 by Lisa Rudes-Sandel and her father, George Rudes.
Lisa got the idea for NYDJ after shopping for a pair of stylish jeans in a high-end department store and not finding anything to fit her over-35-year-old figure.
The brand transitioned its name to NYDJ in 2013 to reflect an ageless consumer mindset and to expand beyond denim to sportswear. Today, the brand is available at better department stores in 7,000 points of retail globally.
