Gabby Hirata, former president and chief executive officer of Diane von Furstenberg, has joined Halara, an athleisure direct-to-consumer brand, as global brand president, a latest post.

Hirata’s appointment signifies a latest chapter for Halara. The three-year-old athleisure brand is poised for aggressive worldwide sales growth.

“I loved DVF and I loved Diane. I’m just so enthusiastic about servicing women from a large demographic. I discovered a brand that caters to a customer of various ages, demographics and walks of life,” Hirata said.

She first heard of the brand when she bought a pleated skort that carries a phone on TikTok within the spring of 2022. “I purchased it and loved it. For $32, it was such good quality and I used to be very intrigued,” Hirata said. She said she had the chance to fulfill Joyce Zhang, chief executive officer and founding father of Halara, when she was doing an activation for DVF.

In her three-and-a-half years at DVF, Hirata introduced a business model at DVF Studio that significantly increased profit margins and operational efficiency centered around strategic collaborations with the corporate’s China partner, overhauled the product merchandising range and amplified the brand’s presence.

Diane von Furstenberg said Monday that Hirata’s role won’t get replaced.

“She achieved her task. She was incredibly useful to work with my Chinese partners. She was incredibly instrumental. She was great, but she had really finished her task. I now operate a design studio (which owns the IP, the creative and the prints) and it’s all concerning the creativity, marketing and design. We don’t run the operating business from Recent York. It’s really within the hands of my partner in China, and it’s run out of China, Hong Kong and London (with some residing in Recent York). Her genius was to place me along with my Chinese distributor. She helped me figure all of it out. Her mission, which was genius, was achieved.”

“I’m profoundly grateful for the prospect to be a part of such a fast-growing start-up like Halara, and to interact in a marketplace of this magnitude,” Hirata said. “After I observe Halara’s rapidly growing customer base — over one million in lower than 30 months — it truly looks like viewing a various tapestry of America. All ages group, every location, every walk of life is represented. We genuinely represent the wonderful diverse and full breadth of on a regular basis life.”

Zhang said of Hirata: “Her in-depth knowledge within the international fashion industry and her passion for packing value propositions from quality textile to flattering designs into well-priced products make her the proper fit for Halara. We’re confident that Gabby’s industry expertise and thoughtful leadership will enable us to proceed pushing boundaries and cement our position not only as a trusted activewear brand for patrons but additionally as a worldwide magnet for top talent.”

Halara looks to expand its global workforce, situated in key locations akin to Singapore, Recent York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Shanghai and Munich.

Amongst Hirata’s strategies shall be to raise the brand identity and instill the next level of aspirational aesthetics across all platforms, spanning its website and social media channels. To fuel growth, Hirata can also be expected to push for innovation and value maximization in product in addition to nationwide offline brand activations.

At present, Halara’s business is usually e-commerce, however the plan is to open stores within the U.S. Previously, they’ve had temporary sales posts on college campuses.

Halara’s collection consists of athleticwear and everydaywear. Many of the styles retail from $20 to $45. Without delay the U.S. is the most important market, followed by the E.U., Mexico, U.K. and other parts of the world. Hirata said the business is fast-growing and he or she’s recruiting a team to handle the German market, which is growing rapidly. They may launch a U.K. site in a single month. “This how briskly a start-up life is,” Hirata said.

The brand can also be keen on moving into menswear.

“I never imagined leaving DVF because I loved it a lot. However the technology of Halara is insane,” said Hirata, who is predicated in Recent York.

Hirata said all the pieces on the positioning is crowd approved. Due to the technology, they’re able to get that feedback right into their system and initiate production. The gathering is manufactured in southern China in premium sportswear factories.

She pointed to a workout dress with a built-in top (The Easy Peezy Dress), which has sold greater than 1,000 units every day, retailing for $44.95. “It’s activewear but makes you look pretty put together,” she said.

Halara, which suggests “stress free” in Greek, was founded on the thought of providing a stress-free shopping experience to consumers.

Before joining DVF, Hirata was chief strategy officer at Jill Stuart International for a 12 months. Before that she was director of production and logistics for Adeam International, and before that spent nearly 4 years at Ralph Lauren, rising to production manager.