Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. Names Joshua Schulman as President of the Kenneth Cole New York Brand

NEW YORK, OCTOBER 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. announced today that it has appointed Joshua Schulman as the President of the Kenneth Cole New York brand. In this newly created position, Mr. Schulman will have primary responsibility for defining and executing the Kenneth Cole New York brand elevation strategy across all channels, all product categories and territories. He will influence all aspects of the Kenneth Cole New York business including design direction, retail strategy, retail product mix, merchandising, merchandise planning, retail service model, supply chain, licensing, marketing, visual, store design, and public relations for the brand. Josh will, as well, have direct responsibility for international retail.

Mr. Schulman has an accomplished background and most recently was at Gap Inc. where he concurrently held two roles as Managing Director/ International Strategic Alliances for Gap Inc. and Senior Vice President/ International Product Development and Merchandising for Gap Brand. In the first role, he was responsible for the international franchise/wholesale business unit for Gap and Banana Republic brands. In addition, for Gap Brand, he also managed the product cycle for many of the international markets.

Previously, Josh spent 7 years at Gucci Group, first as Worldwide Director/ Women's Ready to Wear for the Gucci brand and then as Executive Vice President/ Worldwide Merchandising and Wholesale for the Yves Saint Laurent brand. In the later role, Josh served as the senior global merchant for 60 directly operated stores in Europe, Japan, Asia and America, as well as managing the link between design, product development and the commercial channels for all product categories including women's and men's ready to wear, footwear, handbags and leathergoods, and other accessories. He also had full accountability for the wholesale channels including managing sales teams in Europe and America. As part of the executive team at YSL, Josh was involved in all aspects of brand development during a time of repositioning and robust growth from 13 to 60 directly operated stores worldwide and 0 to 55 hard wholesale shops. Prior to Gucci Group, Josh also held positions at Richard Tyler and Perry Ellis International.

Mr. Schulman will report to Kenneth Cole, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Kenneth Cole Productions. Mr. Cole said, "We are pleased with our progress as a company and we remain committed to repositioning our brands. Josh Schulman is a terrific addition to our team. He is an experienced leader who understands how to drive the businesses through creating compelling product and executing a coordinated retail and wholesale strategy with a comprehensive focus on brand elevation and integrity. He brings exceptional experience in both luxury and specialty retailing and I look forward to working with him to improve all aspects of the Kenneth Cole New York brand."