The once invulnerable VF Corp. — humbled by declines on the Vans and an uneven start with Supreme — is now betting Bracken Darrell can get the corporate its mojo back. 

Darrell, 60, will take the reins of VF as president and chief executive officer on July 17, putting the style newcomer in command of one in all the industry’s leading players, which logged $11.6 billion in revenues last yr and likewise a 34 percent drop in adjusted earnings.

It’s a giant job for the Procter & Gamble and Whirlpool veteran who has spent the last decade leading computer hardware and software company Logitech International.

Darrell will probably be in command of overseeing the turnaround of Vans, VF’s largest business, and likewise walking a effective line at Supreme, which is attempting to expand while maintaining its well-honed sense of scarcity.  Timberland can also be a piece in progress, but The North Face is hitting its stride as consumers gravitate toward outdoor brands.  

As CEO, he will even should win back Wall Street, which for years saw VF as a broad-based powerhouse with a gentle dividend payment only to look at that thesis unravel. 

Benno Dorer, who’s been interim CEO since Steve Rendle left the post abruptly in December, will remain on the board.  

It’s a transition that underscores the imprint Procter & Gamble has on the patron space. The buyer products and wonder giant has produced a protracted list of top fashion executives including Chip Bergh at Levi Strauss & Co., Patrice Louvet at Ralph Lauren Corp., Fabrizio Freda on the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. and Toni Belloni at LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. Dorer can also be a P&G alum.

At the patron giant, Darrell was president of Braun globally and, earlier in his profession, helped turn across the Old Spice brand.

That’s not direct fashion experience, but he has worked on consumer brands for years, giving him connection points with VF’s own brand leaders. He also has experience leading a publicly traded company — Logitech is listed in Switzerland.  

Tom Nikic, an analyst at Wedbush, said: “Possibly finding an executive from the small circle of fashion brand executives on the market was not what was needed here, perhaps an outdoor perspective may also help turn around the corporate’s fortunes.”

Investors appeared to be in wait-and-see mode. 

Shares of VF inched up 1.1 percent to $19.73 in trading on Wall Street Tuesday, giving the corporate a market capitalization of $7.7 billion — a far cry from the $40 billion the corporate was valued at in early 2020.

“A part of the explanation why they got such a premium valuation was just that they’d this fame of being good portfolio managers,” Nikic said. “If you’ve got a well-diversified, well-rounded portfolio, then you definitely can get regular consistent growth, which investors were willing to pay up for.”

However the analyst said Vans has been a “problem child,” that Supreme hasn’t worked out the best way they thought it might and that Timberland was “volatile.” 

“They split off jeanswear into Kontoor [Brands Inc.] and jeanswear has actually held up rather a lot higher than the remaining of the portfolio,” he said. 

VF still has a sprawling business — based in Denver since 2019 — but for its turnaround to succeed, it needs the $4.2 billion Vans business to work. 

Jessica Ramírez, an analyst at Jane Hali & Associates, said Vans needed to maneuver quicker along several fronts after a protracted stretch of growth. 

“It surprised me how far behind they were with digital,” Ramírez said. “The in-store experience is effective, but it surely could possibly be elevated. They’ve outdoors product so far as sneakers [with the UltraRange], but I don’t see it having momentum. It’s a superb product, but I don’t know what’s taking it so long. Outdoors is where the patron is spending their dollars, there’s little doubt about it.”

Vans veteran Kevin Bailey returned to the brand last yr to steer its turnaround, however the responsibility for it — and every thing else at VF — is now going to increase to Darrell. 

Richard Carucci, who has been serving as interim chairman since Rendle left and can take the chair position on  a everlasting basis, said Darrell has “all of the attributes to excel.” 

“He’s a transformational and visionary business leader with a robust track record of performance across multiple industries,” Carucci said. “Throughout his profession he has demonstrated an impressive ability to boost design capabilities, delight consumers and speed up revenue growth and margin expansion.”

At Logitech, Darrell worked to maneuver the corporate into recent categories and greater than doubled the firm’s revenues while expanding its market capitalization tenfold. 

“His broad executive management and deep international experience make him uniquely suited to partner with and guide VF’s executive team and 35,000 talented associates all over the world to fuel an exciting recent future for the corporate,” Carucci said. “We’re highly confident that under Bracken’s leadership, VF will achieve recent levels of success that can make its associates, investors and stakeholders proud.”

In accordance with a regulatory filing, Darrell will receive an annual base salary of $1.3 million and a goal annual bonus opportunity of 175 percent of that salary. He will even receive a “annual long-term incentive opportunity of $9 million” and equity awards valued at $3 million to make up for equity he forfeit when he left Logitech. 

For his part, Darrell said: “Like tens of millions of individuals all over the world, I like VF’s iconic brands. I’m so impressed by this organization’s sustained ability to maintain its portfolio of brands on the forefront of culture over time during its 124-year history. I stay up for working closely with the board, leadership team and the talented associates across VF to construct on the initiatives underway to strengthen business performance and drive strong and sustainable growth and shareholder value creation. I can’t wait to get to work.”

Actually, the brand new CEO will probably be plenty busy.