Joanne Crevoiserat’s career has spanned the fashion and retail landscape, from Abercrombie & Fitch to Walmart, Filene’s Basement, and Kohl’s. Despite her extensive experience, the now-CEO of Tapestry—the parent company of Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman—never envisioned herself leading a company, let alone one of the world’s largest fashion conglomerates.
“I had a vision in my mind of what a CEO was supposed to be: very charismatic, usually male,” she recalls in a recent Leadership Next podcast.
While at Abercrombie, she hesitated when an opportunity to become CEO arose, doubting she fit the traditional mold. “I didn’t even throw my hat in the ring for the job because I wasn’t sure that I was the CEO type,” she admits
However, when the interim CEO position at Tapestry presented itself, Crevoiserat embraced the challenge with a new perspective. “I saw the huge opportunity… and I wanted to be a part of bringing that forward,” she says. When Crevoiserat assumed the corner office in 2020, she faced the formidable challenge of quelling internal turmoil, reversing declining sales, and driving growth across Tapestry’s three brands during a time when consumers wanted to buy less.
Plus, her ascent to the top job at Tapestry came unexpectedly. Less than a year after joining the company as CFO, she was appointed interim CEO following the abrupt departure of her predecessor, Jide Zeitlin, who stepped down amid misconduct allegations tied to a past relationship. Four years later, she has steered the company through the COVID-19 pandemic and an ongoing brand transformation for each of its businesses.
The road has been rocky. Regulators blocked Tapestry’s $8.5 billion plan to acquire fellow luxury fashion conglomerate Capri in what would have been the biggest fashion industry merger since the mid-2000s. Still, the company’s 2024 performance beat market expectations, with net sales holding steady at $6.67 billion, up slightly from $6.66 billion the previous year.
Looking back, Crevoiserat credits the diverse roles she’s held over the years with preparing her for the corner office.
Early in her career, she gained hands-on experience working for small retailers and in varying functions. This exposure, she says, “allowed me to see the business very broadly and put my hands and fingerprints and touch and feel the business.”
While many finance executives focus solely on numbers, Crevoiserat took a more expansive approach, immersing herself in the broader business. Rather than being confined to spreadsheets and financial metrics, she focused on driving results through people and teams—a critical skill for any CEO.