Blueberry names two new female senior leadership hires

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Jun 1, 2022

Digital fashion brand Blueberry Entertainment announced on Tuesday the appointment of two new hires, including Katherine Manuel as chief operating officer and Emily Eitches as head of business development.

The new hires will partner with Mishi McDuff, chief executive and founder, and Ashley Hopkins, chief creative officer, completing Blueberry’s all-female senior leadership team. 

Manuel joins the company from Thomson Reuters, where she was most recently senior vice president, running innovation, and is credited for shifting the company from acquisition to organic-oriented growth. 

She is also an operating partner at a North Carolina-based venture capital fund, and holds a mix of nonprofit and for-profit board positions each with a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship.

“It is a really exciting time for Blueberry Entertainment, and innovation more broadly. Metaverses open up new frontiers for creators in ways that we have yet to experience,” Manuel said, in a news statement. “Working with a business, and a team, committed to building and enabling healthy and prosperous communities in these new spaces is an enormous opportunity for me individually, and for Blueberry in its market leading position.”

Likewise, Eitches has a track record at companies including American Express and New York City-based start-ups Physique 57, SLT, and ORA. Most recently, she served as a director at Tory Burch.

“I am thrilled to have joined such a strong female leadership team and to have the opportunity to help Blueberry define the rapidly changing digital fashion industry,” Eitches said.

McDuff founded Blueberry in 2012, Blueberry has since sold over 20 million digital wearables and amassed a library of more than 10,000 digital SKUs. 

McDuff added: “I’m incredibly excited to welcome both Katherine and Emily as we complete our all-female senior leadership team. Both additions bring a wealth of knowledge and experience as Blueberry continues to showcase what digital fashion can offer to the world. The future of fashion is digital, with accessible and sustainable fashion playing a central role in our offering. I have no doubt that Katherine and Emily will add another brilliant dimension to the work we’re already doing at Blueberry.”