TOM TAILOR Group announces change on the Management Board

Dr Gernot Lenz appointed new Chief Executive Officer of the TOM TAILOR Group

Hamburg, 21 October 2019. The TOM TAILOR Group today announced that Dr Gernot Lenz will take over as CEO of TOM TAILOR Holding SE from Dr Heiko Schäfer effective 1 November 2019. Dr Lenz was most recently CEO of the s.Oliver Group. Before that, he held the positions of COO Tommy Hilfiger Global and PVH Europe in Amsterdam, where his responsibilities included the digital transformation and operational management of the rapidly growing European e-commerce business of the Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein brands. Prior to spending a total of ten years with PVH Europe, Dr Lenz was a strategy consultant at Bain & Company.

"I very much look forward to assuming my new position with the TOM TAILOR Group and working constructively with my colleagues on the Management Board and with all employees. I am very grateful for the confidence expressed in me by the Supervisory Board. Our industry is undergoing major changes that offer numerous opportunities. The TOM TAILOR brand has seen a positive development over the past few years. We must, however, ensure that its attractiveness and performance at the points of sale in brick-and-mortar and digital retail continue to increase. It is also important to successfully implement the restructuring strategy initiated at BONITA," said Dr Gernot Lenz, commenting on his appointment.

"Dr Gernot Lenz is an industry expert with a long and successful track record. We are delighted that the TOM TAILOR Group will be able to rely on his knowledge and benefit from his experience going forward. With his strong international and digital expertise we are providing a new spark for the company", said Dr. Jenny Shao, Chairwoman of the Supervisory Board of TOM TAILOR Holding SE. "I very much look forward to working with Dr Lenz and wish him every success in his new position."

The current CEO, Dr Heiko Schäfer, will resign from the Management Board at his own request effective 31 October 2019. Dr Schäfer has been a member of the Management Board since December 2015 (initially as COO) and was appointed CEO in September 2016.

Dr Jenny Shao: "We would like to express our thanks to Dr Heiko Schäfer for realigning the TOM TAILOR core brand in a sustainable way since 2016, pushing ahead with the Group's digital transformation, continuing its internationalisation and developing new growth fields, and for securing the recently agreed refinancing. The measures taken in recent years have put TOM TAILOR in an excellent position for future success," said Shao. "The restructuring and separation of the BONITA brand will be continued by the new Management Board."

During Dr Schäfer's tenure, the TOM TAILOR brand lifted its EBITDA margin from 4.9 percent (2016) to 10.4 percent (2018). During the same period, the gross margin of the TOM TAILOR brand rose by six percentage points to 56.6 percent, that of the entire Group including BONITA by four percentage points to 58.1 percent. Growth momentum was generated in particular in e-commerce, in international markets (above all in Eastern Europe) and by successfully launching new lines in the ladies' wear segment. This continued to make the Group more independent of the sluggish German fashion market.

"I would like to thank our trading partners, suppliers, employees and the Supervisory Board for their support and constructive collaboration. My thanks also go to our majority shareholder Fosun for their many years of strategic support, which will continue to give TOM TAILOR security and stability in the future. In 2016, we began to tackle legacy issues, which in some cases put a heavy strain on our employees and partners, and succeeded in laying the foundations for the future by introducing new processes, systems and structures. The orderly transition enables the company to make a fresh start to its next growth phase," said Dr Heiko Schäfer.

About TOM TAILOR Group
The TOM TAILOR Group is an international, vertically integrated fashion company focused on casual wear in the medium price segment. The product portfolio is complemented by an extensive range of fashionable accessories. The company thus covers the different core segments of the fashion market. TOM TAILOR brand is marketed through the retail and wholesale segments, and thus through single-label stores as well as wholesale partners. These include 454 TOM TAILOR stores and 185 franchise stores, 2.541 shop-in-shops and around 7.393 shop-in-shops and around 32 countries.

Along with its 727 retail stores, BONITA has 80 shop-in-shop spaces. The collections of both brands are also available through their respective online shops.

Information is also available at

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