Shop Direct hires first fashion director

Shop Direct, the UK��s leading digital department store retailer, has appointed Zoe Matthews to the new role of fashion director.

Zoe joins the home of Very.co.uk and Littlewoods.com on 15th July 2014 from her current position as European buying director at Gap. Earlier in her career, Zoe was senior head of buying and design at White Stuff and head of buying at House of Fraser. Prior to that, she spent time in senior buying roles at John Lewis and Marks & Spencer.

The creation of the fashion director role is the culmination of Shop Direct’s restructure of its senior clothing and footwear team. Buying has been split out from merchandising, creating a more streamlined reporting structure that is better aligned to the wider market.

Zoe will report directly to group product director, Matt Dixon, with her remit covering ladieswear, menswear and sportswear, kidswear and footwear and accessories. Former clothing and footwear trading director, Pauline Lauder, has progressed to head up all of the merchandising teams in the new role of group merchandising director.

Matt Dixon said: “Since being promoted to the role of group product director last November, I’ve spent time with the teams restructuring our clothing and footwear department in line with the market. This is an important step for us as we look to drive our fashion business forward and create clear career paths for our people.

“Zoe’s arrival cements that new structure and will ensure that we have a consistency of approach across our clothing and footwear categories. Her fashion credentials are second to none and we’re looking forward to working with her to strengthen our product agenda as we develop into a world class digital retailer.”

Zoe Matthews said: “Shop Direct’s clothing and footwear business is in a great position, thanks to its experienced team, strong focus on stock and efficiency and deep understanding of its customer base. There’s a huge opportunity now to really develop and curate its product range, particularly in own brand fashion. I’m excited to get into the business and to start working with the team.”

ENDS 

About Shop Direct

Shop Direct is the UK’s leading multi-brand digital retailer, with annual sales of £1.7 billion. Our digital department store brands include Very.co.uk, which is now a £700 million brand, and receive an average of 880,000 website visits every day.

We exist to make good things easily accessible to more people. With our department store range, market-leading ecommerce and technology capabilities and unique financial services offer, we’re well placed to deliver on that promise.

We sell more famous brands than any other UK retailer, including big name labels and our own exclusive brands, and deliver 46 million parcels each year to millions of active customers.

For more information on Shop Direct, visit www.shopdirect.com or follow us on Twitter @ShopDirect.