Levi Strauss named Skechers finance chief John Vandemore as its next chief financial officer, effective November 1, succeeding Harmit Singh, who plans to retire, according to Bloomberg and MarketWatch. The company’s announcement confirms the appointment and transition. Vandemore has been CFO of Skechers for nine years. MarketWatch reports that Singh will stay through the appointment and then serve as a special adviser through November 30.
A planned finance transition, not a sudden vacancy
Singh announced his intention to retire in April, so Levi Strauss has had several months to prepare the change. The November 1 start gives the company a named successor before Singh’s planned exit from the finance role. His month as a special adviser is intended to support the handoff, according to the reporting.
Vandemore arrives from a finance post at a global footwear company with experience at a consumer brand operating at scale. Bloomberg reports that he spent nine years as Skechers’ CFO; MarketWatch describes his finance-chief tenure as spanning that same period. The change moves him from one publicly traded apparel-and-footwear business to another, but the announcement does not describe a wider leadership restructure.
Levi Strauss CEO Michelle Gass said the company is building a more direct-to-consumer business and expanding the Levi’s brand, while describing Vandemore’s experience as relevant to its growth ambitions in the company announcement. That provides a practical frame for a finance handoff: the CFO role will sit alongside a commercial strategy that includes direct sales and retail. The sources do not assign a separate performance target to Vandemore beyond his new finance remit.
The succession also leaves the outgoing finance leader close by for the first weeks after the change. Singh will remain until Vandemore joins on November 1, then advise the company through month-end. The reporting does not identify additional changes to the CFO organization or a new title for Singh after the advisory period.
For readers following finance leadership in consumer companies, the change connects with Diageo’s appointment of Joanne Wilson as CFO, another transition that brings a new finance leader into a global brand portfolio.