Business people : Ecco Appoints Branding Director, External Sourcing.

Ecco appointed Paul Janssen as its branding director, external sourcing. Janssen has previously worked for Hugo Boss Shoes & Accessories as managing director for more than a decade. He joins Ecco from Sioux G.m.b.H Walheim, where he holds the position of COO since 2010.

“We are very pleased that Paul Janssen has accepted to take on the position as Branding Director, External Sourcing. With Paul Janssen we are bringing in a strong resource to develop, establish and drive our trend & premium collection,” says Andreas Wortmann, Executive Vice President, Brand & Products.

Janssen is taking on the tasks to create, implement and execute a new strategy for Ecco’s external sourcing, which account for some 10 percent of Ecco’s collection. The remainder is produced in-house by Ecco’s own shoe factories.

“Paul Janssen brings with him profound experience in working with global con-sumer brands and has a solid product understanding. With Paul Janssen joining us, we acquire an experienced executive who will be instrumental in our continued quest for excellence and innovation – and creating and manufacturing high quality shoes for very demanding consumers,” says Wortmann.

He expects that Ecco with Janssen will move even closer to market and re-duce lead time, which will increase attractiveness for shops and partners around the world. Janssen will be joining Ecco in January 2014.

“I am happy to join one of the best global footwear companies. It’s a great op-portunity to work on all different shoe types in a big shoemaker family,” Paul Janssen, who is born in the Netherlands but lives in Germany with his wife and two children.

By press release