It's not only Yahoo that is making waves through high-profile hirings. Apple too has created buzz by hiring British luxury fashion house Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts as its retail and online head.
Ahrendts, who was also the executive vice president at Liz Claiborne Inc. and had served as the president of Donna Karan International, will be joining Apple in spring of 2014 as SVP of Retail and Online Stores, a newly created role.
"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 was excited about joining Apple but said Burberry is in great hands. In her recent LinkedIn post, Ahrendts opened up regarding her resignation and what the company's success meant to her.
"My time as CEO of Burberry has without question been the most rewarding period of my professional life," Ahrendts wrote.
"For me, Burberry's true success is measured not by financial growth or brand momentum, but by something much more human: one of the most connected, creative and compassionate cultures in the world today, steeped in common values and beliefs, and united around a shared vision," she wrote.
In her post, Ahrendts also heaped praises on her successor Christopher Bailey and sounded pretty optimistic regarding Burberry's future. "Not only because I believe Christopher is one of the sector's greatest visionaries and Burberry's natural next leader, but also because my instincts told me he and the senior team were fully ready for me to pass the baton."
"After years of hiring and fostering the best talent, as well as constantly evolving the organization to optimize the opportunities available to the brand, the team and the culture have never been stronger. Intuitively I knew this meant the time was right for me to exit stage left, trusting that Burberry would only go from strength to strength in its next exciting chapter," she added.
Ahrendts is best known for embracing technological advancements in the company during her reign. One of them is deploying a communication system internally, similar to Twitter through which employees interacted with each other.
Earlier this year, Apple also roped in former Yves Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve to work on "special projects." Per industry analysts, the "special project" referred to Apple's rumored smartwatch, dubbed the iWatch. The analysts opine that because of the wearable device's impending release, Apple is poaching on eminent fashion executives.
