Barneys New York Names New CEO

Daniella Vitale, formerly chief operating officer of Barneys New York, has been named chief executive officer of the luxury retailer. Her predecessor and mentor Mark Lee, who joined Barneys as chief executive in 2010, has been named executive chairman reporting to Richard Perry, whose hedge fund Perry Capital owns a majority stake in the company. Vitale, who worked alongside Lee at the Kering-owned Gucci, where he was chief executive until 2008, joined Barneys in 2010 as chief merchant and executive vice president. In 2013, she was promoted to chief operating officer, in charge of all women’s merchandising, business development, digital strategy and store operations.

Total Retail's Take: It's been a banner week for women retail executives. In addition to Vitale taking the reins at Barneys New York, Fran Horowitz was promoted to CEO at Abercrombie & Fitch, and Jane Nielsen was tapped on an interim basis to lead Ralph Lauren after it was announced that its current CEO, Stefan Larson, would be stepping down. Diversity in the boardroom should be a goal for all retail organizations, and we're off to a good start in 2017.