FitFlop, the maverick wellness footwear company, has announced the appointment of Phil Borthwick as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Jude Whyte as Creative Director, both of whom bring a wealth of experience with backgrounds in fashion and e-commerce.
Phil will join the business at the start of 2023 and is tasked with delivering a best-in-class omnichannel strategy for the brand by expanding FitFlop’s current channel relationships and territories, as well as driving brand awareness across key strategic international markets.
Phil has an impressive career portfolio starting out within the music industry and spending a decade in progressive marketing agencies. More recently he has worked with a variety of global consumer brands, including renowned footwear brand, Dr. Martens, Vivobarefoot and the heritage portfolio within the Wolverine Worldwide collection of brands. Phil’s ability to adopt a creative, strategic and consumer-led brand approach will help FitFlop move to its next level of global brand development.
Commenting on his new role, Phil said, “I’m incredibly excited to be stepping into the role of CMO at FitFlop. It’s a rare opportunity to join a leadership team tasked with delivering the outrageous growth potential of a truly iconic global brand. I’m hugely looking forward to the months and years ahead.”
Phil will be joined by Jude Whyte, FitFlop’s new Creative Director, who joins the team in early December and will head up the brand’s Creative Studio. Jude will help Phil to drive the brand’s global expansion by leading the creative direction and transforming the customer experience at all touchpoints from in-store, to digital.
Jude joins FitFlop from MADE where she was Brand Creative Director, heading up their creative campaigns and social content strategy, as well as the e-commerce and in-store customer experience. Jude has vast experience within the retail and e-commerce sector, working with brand heavyweights such as Charlotte Tilbury and Anya Hindmarch, where she was Head of Creative, as well as Selfridges, where she worked on influential brand projects such as the LV collab with Yayoi Kusama.
Commenting on her new role, Jude said, “The red thread of my career is that I love to create concepts and bring them to life, whether that means in a full campaign, a shoot, a collaboration, an experience, store design, visual merchandising or window design. I can’t wait to do all of that and more at FitFlop; it’s a brand with a true USP and so much positivity. I can’t wait to be a part of their journey.”
Gianni Georgiades, CEO of FitFlop added, “We are now in a new era for FitFlop and assembling a world-class leadership team to unleash our full potential is paramount and so I am thrilled that Phil and Jude are joining us on our journey, and I am looking forward to partnering with them as we fire up our strategy in 2023 with the launch of our stunning new products over the coming months.”
These key appointments complete FitFlop’s Executive Leadership Team with previous senior hires, including David Schuttenkopf appointed as Chief Commercial Officer earlier in the year, to help drive the business forward and strengthen the senior leadership team as the brand strives to become the world’s biggest wellness footwear brand.
