Katie Singer Named Chief Merchandising Officer of Z Supply; Cathey Curtis Named Chief Marketing Officer
Big news for the women’s market today: Former Billabong Women’s Global GM Katie Singer is the new chief merchandising officer of Z Supply.
At Billabong Women’s, Singer led the powerhouse women’s brand, which is bigger than Billabong men’s in the U.S and has a substantial footprint with larger retailers such as Nordstrom, while also totally dominating the women’s apparel category in the U.S. core surf market.
After the Boardriders sale closed Sept. 1, Singer became global head of women’s product for all brands at Liberated Brands, the licensee for Billabong, RVCA, Volcom, and Spyder and the owner of Captain Fin. She starts at Z Supply after Thanksgiving.
She will now join the superstar team Z Supply President and co-owner Mandy Fry is putting together, which includes another recent star hire from Boardriders: Cathey Curtis, the new chief marketing officer.
Curtis has an extensive industry resume, having served as general manager of Roxy Americas, global general manager of digital content for Boardriders, global general manager of RVCA Women’s, and vice president of marketing for Billabong Women’s. She also spent two years in China for Quiksilver as the brand looked to enter that market.
Fry, Singer, and Curtis are three of the top executives in the industry, and to have them all in one place is notable. Fry has also brought on an experienced e-commerce leader from Boardriders, Linda Tran, who is taking on the role of vice president of e-commerce for Z Supply.
“Each new leader brings a wide range of experience and background, and together we are embarking on a journey to prepare our teams for future growth,” Fry told SES.
Interestingly, Z Supply is not a huge player in the surf channel at the moment, and instead has a diverse business across fashion boutiques and other retail accounts. The brand appeals to a wide range of ages and sells in many parts of the country – it isn’t limited to the coasts. It will be interesting to see if the new hires mean Z Supply will be making a more concerted run at the surf market as well.
Singer is the second senior Billabong leader to exit Liberated since the Boardriders sale closed. Former Men’s Global GM Mark Weber, who was heading up men’s product at Liberated, departed in October to spend more time with his family.
We reached out to Liberated Brands for comment on Singer’s departure and to see if they have named a replacement.
Chief Marketing Officer Ryan Immegart sent SES the following statement:
“To replace Katie, we have officially signed a seasoned apparel expert who is well known in the space, we will be making a formal announcement in the coming weeks with all the juicy details!”
