Apple has announced that Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts will be taking on the newly-created role of SVP of Retail and Online Stores.
Ahrendts will be reporting directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook and fills the slot left vacant by former retail chief John Browett, who was fired in October 2012.
"I am thrilled that Angela will be joining our team," said Cook. "She shares our values and our focus on innovation, and she places the same strong emphasis as we do on the customer experience. She has shown herself to be an extraordinary leader throughout her career and has a proven track record."
53-year old Ahrendts will be responsible for the strategic direction, operations, as well as expansion of Apple's retail and online stores. She is set to join Apple in spring 2014. A fashion veteran, prior to Burberry, Ahrendts was the executive vice president at Liz Claiborne Inc. and has also served as the president of Donna Karan International.
"I am profoundly honored to join Apple in this newly created position next year, and very much look forward to working with the global teams to further enrich the consumer experience on and offline," said Ahrendts. "I have always admired the innovation and impact Apple products and services have on people's lives and hope in some small way I can help contribute to the company's continued success and leadership in changing the world."
Ahrendts isn't the first fashion executive Apple has hired this year. Earlier in 2013, former Yves Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve joined the most valuable technology company in the world to work on "special projects."
Per industry experts, the "special project" is supposedly Apple's impending smartwatch, dubbed the iWatch. The experts are of the opinion that because of the wearable device's impending release, Apple is apparently poaching eminent fashion executives.
"The wearables category could become as much about fashion as it is technology, which would require a different kind of retail experience," said Patrick Moorhead, founder and principal analyst of Moorhead Insights, in context of Ahrendts' hire. "Consumers take very seriously what they wear on their bodies as it's an expression of who they are versus what they want to do technologically."
Apple has so far kept mum on reports of a smartwatch. With the company's press event slated for October 22, we will soon known if the iWatch makes an appearance.
