Amiri hires new CEO Adrian Ward-Rees from Burberry

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Mar 16, 2023

Amiri, the fast-growing Californian fashion label, has tapped into Burberry to hire its new chief executive officer, Adrian Ward-Rees.

His appointment becomes effective starting April 1, 2023. In effect, Ward-Rees succeeds founder Mike Amiri as CEO, since the designer has held both positions of CEO and creative director of Amiri since founding it in 2014.
 
Ward-Rees joins Amiri from the giant UK brand, where he was Senior Vice President for the past three years. Prior to Burberry, he held the position of managing director at Dior Homme. Ward-Rees is a highly experienced executive, boasting more than 30 years of knowledge and expertise in the fashion and luxury goods sector. He is expected to strengthen and solidify the existing parts of the business, as well as identify new opportunities.

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“His vision is to embrace Amiri’s California luxury identity while increasing global awareness; and to build a culture of innovation and elegance that translates to every touchpoint of the business,” the house said in a release.
 
In 2019, after Amiri generated a strong following among actors and musicians in Los Angeles, Diesel founder, Renzo Rosso acquired a significant minority stake in Amiri via the OTB Group, his holding company for brands that includes Diesel, Maison Margiela, Jil Sander and Viktor & Rolf.
 
Since then, Amiri has expanded rapidly, opening boutiques in as wide-ranging destinations as Chicago, Dubai and Aoyama, Tokyo. And last June, Amiri staged its first show in Europe, joining the official calendar in the menswear season of Paris Fashion Week.
 
Commenting on the appointment, Mike Amiri said: “Adrian has strong and holistic expertise in all facets of the business. His thoughtful insight within the luxury sector combined with a modern approach made him the best candidate to drive the continued growth at Amiri.” 
 
While Ward-Rees enthused: “I am thrilled to join Amiri. Mike has built an incredible brand with a real connection to youth culture and modern luxury. I look forward to growing the business further, building its retail presence and the categories in careful alignment with the Amiri universe.”