Garrett Leight California Optical has discovered its president.
Weeks after promoting a majority stake for $20 million to The Untitled Group, the Los Angeles-based eyewear model has snagged Barney Waters of Ok-Swiss to function its new president. Waters has been president of Ok-Swiss since 2016 and is credited with returning the heritage sneaker model to profitability after a number of years of losses.
At GLCO, Waters will lead the manager workforce and work on effectivity, operations and programs; nevertheless, the corporate may even faucet into his advertising and marketing expertise as it really works to increase its attain past eyewear into different life-style merchandise. GLCO has mentioned it expects so as to add 20 % in gross sales to its prime line annually as it really works to double its quantity inside 5 years.
“I’m thrilled to bring in a footwear industry legend who understands that marketing, p.r. and design are the bloodline of what makes our brand special, and simultaneously knows what it takes for us meet our business goals,” mentioned founder Garrett Leight. “His experience at larger companies will help us achieve our targets and the potential we believe GLCO has, not only in optical but beyond. Having Barney on the team will allow me the opportunity to get back to focusing on the creative parts of the business that I most enjoy.”
Waters mentioned he appears to be like ahead to “to translating my experiences from the footwear market into this unique product category and help amplify the brand as we aim for global growth.”
Waters, a local of the U.Ok., began his profession on the software program firm Lotus, the place he labored for 11 years. He then joined Puma as vp of promoting for seven years earlier than becoming a member of Ok-Swiss. While at Ok-Swiss, Waters additionally labored with Palladium, a French heritage boot model owned by the company, and elevated its gross sales from $15 million to $100 million globally in underneath 5 years.
GLCO was based in Venice Beach, Calif., in 2010 by Leight, an eyewear veteran whose father is Larry Leight, founding father of the Oliver Peoples model. GLCO has grown right into a buzzy label that could be a favourite amongst celebrities together with Brad Pitt and Selena Gomez. The firm operates six shops within the U.S. and posted gross sales of $23.2 million in 2019. Sales slipped to $18.3 million final 12 months through the pandemic however this 12 months, Leight expects to return to not less than 2019 ranges. The model is distributed in additional than 25 nations on six continents.
