Bluebella has strengthened its board with the appointment of former Wacoal Europe chief executive Tracy Lewis. Lewis, executive chairman of Marketing Technology leader, Inspired Thinking Group, joins as a non-executive director along with Chris Inman, a former board member of the British Fashion Council.
Lewis joined the Eveden Lingerie Group in 2003 and as CEO trebled the size of the business and expanded the larger cup sized lingerie and swim brand portfolio to 52 countries, opening offices in the US, Australia and across Europe. Following an injection of private equity capital from LDC in 2006 to support expansion, she oversaw business and brand development every year, until selling the business to Japanese lingerie giant Wacoal in 2012, where she remained as CEO until 2016, creating a premium Wacoal brand for Europe and integrating the successful subsidiary into the Group.
Emily Bendell, founder and chief executive of Bluebella, said: “We are delighted to welcome Tracy and Chris to the board. Tracy and Chris bring a wealth of retail experience and can really help us to power forward with our international growth.”
Lewis, who won the UK Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Private Equity Backed Businesses for her work at Wacoal in 2012, said: “I have admired the Bluebella brand for some time, with their creative, relevant product offer, strong ecommerce presence and totally unique approach to brand marketing. Only a brand doing such a transformational job could tempt me back into the lingerie industry and from my first meeting with Emily and her team, I knew I wanted to be part of the Bluebella journey!”
Inman, a former director in the Arcadia Group with 25 years’ experience in fashion retail, was awarded the OBE in 2012 for services to the British fashion industry. Bluebella was named Lingerie Brand of the Year at the Drapers Awards in December.
