Speaker

Paul Price is an expert CEO and merchant who has driven exceptional growth across a multitude of brands through his expertise in Merchandise Design and Development, Buying, Planning, Sourcing, Production and Marketing. He has built and led incredible teams to achieve significant accomplishments throughout his career.

He has launched, grown and developed companies in all demographics (luxury, contemporary, aspirational, mid-market and high street), all categories (women’s, men’s and children’s apparel, accessories, home, fragrances, personal care and gifts), across all channels (online, retail, wholesale and social media) and across all markets globally. Paul is an expert at understanding his customer, creating and developing product they will buy and cherish and building strong foundations and businesses for brands that give them strength and lasting power.

Paul was Chief Merchandising Officer at Burberry, based in London, for over 12 years and was a crucial part of a team that delivered consistent double and even triple-digit growth consistently throughout his tenure. He was later CEO of Topshop and Topman and most recently CEO of James Perse based in Los Angeles.

Earlier in his career, after graduating from Princeton University, he trained at Bloomingdale’s to learn to become a buyer. He then joined Banana Republic in 1988 as Senior Vice President of Merchandising for 12 years to transform the brand from a safari clothing company to the modern clothing and accessory brand that it has become. Paul later conceptualised and launched Williams Sonoma Home and then ran Lucky Brand Jeans based in Los Angeles.

He has learned and worked with the best in the fashion business including Angela Ahrendts (CEO Burberry, Sr VP of Apple Retail), Mickey Drexler (CEO Gap INC) and Jeanne Jackson (President Banana Republic, EVP Nike Retail) to name a few.Paul lives in Los Angeles and has opened a consulting firm called Paul Price Global, currently working on two hotels on the California Coast to include retail, restaurants and all hospitality experiences for the guests.