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Reed Krakoff to Take Over as CEO of Namesake Label

After stepping down from the helm of Coach and buying back his namesake brand, Reed Krakoff is now taking the executive reins.
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Having ended his 16-year tenure at Coach to focus on his namesake brand, Reed Krakoff is now upping his involvement even more. Krakoff will be taking over the role of CEO at Reed Krakoff, replacing current president and CEO Valerie Hermann. The change, which WWD first reported Tuesday morning, will be effective March 15.

This is the latest in a series of moves that put Krakoff back in control of his own company: after stepping down from Coach in April, Krakoff entered a binding agreement to buy back the Reed Krakoff label from Coach in July. Krakoff's fall 2014 collection, his first since leaving Coach, took place in New York last week.

Meanwhile, it's unclear where Hermann is headed, although she has a track record of managing all-star brands like Yves Saint Laurent (now known as Saint Laurent), Dior and John Galliano. She came to Reed Krakoff from YSL in 2011, where she had been CEO since 2005. That was just one year after Krakoff's label had shown its first collection.

WWD did not have any information on Hermann's next move Tuesday morning. We've reached out to Reed Krakoff for further details on Hermann's departure and future plans and will update when we hear back.

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