Fashion retailer Reiss has hired Next veteran Christos Angelides to be its chief executive as part of a “planned succession process”.
Angelides will eventually take over the top job from David Reiss, who founded the British retail chain 46 years ago.
The announcement comes after widely-reported speculation that Angelides was in talks with Marks & Spencer for a position as the leader of its fashion arm as part of the department store‘s turnaround efforts.
Angelides was a senior member of Next for 28 years, serving 14 of those on its board as group product director.
He left the high street chain to take up a position as president of US fashion retailer Abercrombie & Fitch from October 2014. He departed in December 2015 and returned to the UK and joined French Connection as an independent non-executive director in March last year.
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“I have long admired the strength of the Reiss brand and its emphasis on timeless luxury at an affordable price,” Angelides said.
“I look forward to building on the strong foundations that David has built and expanding the business further in both the UK and internationally together with the support of [majority owner] Warburg Pincus.”
Outgoing chief executive Reiss added: “I am delighted that Christos has agreed to lead Reiss going forward and look forward to working closely with him in order to ensure an orderly succession.
“He brings significant retail experience, which will be invaluable as Reiss grows into a truly global fashion brand.”
Reiss has also poached Andy Lawrence from Ralph Lauren to be its new head of international.
Private equity firm Warburg Pincus acquired a majority stake in Reiss last April.
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