Everlane names Natalie Massenet to board, appoints Sophie Bambuck as CMO

By

Robin Driver

Published
Feb 2, 2021

San Francisco-based direct-to-consumer fashion retailer Everlane has announced that Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet has joined its board of directors, while Nike vet Sophie Bambuck has been appointed as the company’s first chief marketing officer.

 
As confirmed to FashionNetwork.com by an Everlane spokesperson, Massenet, who is also co-founder and managing partner of Imaginary Ventures, is expected to support growth and transformation efforts at the company, which recently appointed Dave’s chief marketing officer, Jonathan Mildenhall, and L Catterton’s Matt Leeds to its six-member board.
 
Having stepped away from Net-a-Porter in 2015, the British-American businesswoman and former chairman of the British Fashion Council served as non-executive co-chairman at Farfetch from 2017 to 2020.

She founded Imaginary Ventures with Nick Brown in 2018. The firm’s investments, which focus on technologically innovative retailers, include Glossier, Universal Standard, Goodfair and – perhaps most significantly in light of Massenet’s latest move – Everlane itself.
 
As chief marketing officer, Bambuck’s initial mission will be focused on scaling the Everlane brand in order to reach out to new consumers, as well as on building loyalty among the brand’s existing customers.
 
She will oversee a team straddling brand marketing and creative, and will report to Everlane founder and CEO Michael Preysman.
 
The executive joins Everlane from Nike, where she most recently served as global vice president of brand marketing for Nike Sportswear. Over the course of a 13-year career at the American athletic apparel giant, she also worked as VP and chief marketing officer for the Converse brand, senior marketing director for Nike Sportswear in Western Europe, and brand director for running in North America. Bambuck holds a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
 
In addition, Matt Gehring, previously senior vice president of growth at Rothy’s, has been appointed to the role of general manager of e-commerce.  
 
Founded as an online business promising ethical clothing with transparent pricing in 2010, Everlane has since launched brick-and-mortar locations in New York, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, Boston and Austin, Texas, as well as in its hometown of San Francisco.
 
Recently, the company, which prides itself on its ethical positioning, has come under fire for issues related to its work culture. The retailer was publicly condemned by Senator Bernie Sanders in April of last year after it laid off more than 200 employees in a move that Everlane claimed was related to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, but which has provoked accusations of union busting from critics.