For the first time in its 26-year history, Ulla Johnson has hired a chief financial officer.
Laura Pei, an executive whose experience includes posts at several leading fashion companies, has joined the team in its New York office as the company is gearing up for its next chapter of growth
Most recently, Pei was CFO at Burberry Americas. She exited the company Friday after two-and-a-half years and officially started her new post at Ulla Johnson on Monday. Before Burberry, she worked for nearly a year as associate vice president for financial, planning and analysis for Supergoop. Pei also previously held roles at Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs and The Row. At the New York-based Ulla Johnson, she is reunited with the company’s chief executive officer Thibaut Perrin-Faivre, who had been the president and CEO of Burberry Americas for two years.
Pei said she was eager to get back to working with a U.S.-based brand and the fact that she would be working for Perrin-Faivre added to the appeal. In an interview Monday, the University of Michigan graduate said, “That was sort of a magic combination for me.”
Johnson, founder and creative director of her namesake company, said, “Laura’s breadth of global experience and strategic vision make her an extraordinary partner for this next chapter in our company’s growth.”
All-in with aligning with Thibaut’s and Johnson’s vision, whether that be for domestic or international business plans, Pei said she was “super excited” about the brand’s opening of a Madison Avenue store in September, and “all of the potential other store expansions.” The company also has another store in downtown Manhattan, as well as boutiques in Amagansett, N.Y., and West Hollywood.
One of the upsides of working again with a brand that is still scaling up is that she will be closer to production and design. That is not always the case when one is part of a region of a bigger brand that is based in France or the U.K., where sometimes seeing the full picture in action can be less visible, since certain departments may be in the corporate headquarters.
Pei joins a team of about 100 employees. A company spokesperson declined to comment on Ulla Johnson’s annual sales.
Perrin-Faivre said Pei’s “financial expertise and global perspective” are “invaluable” for the company’s next growth phase.
While Johnson’s aesthetic and lifestyle might be familiar to many, Pei sad she is energized about the prospect of the company becoming more of a globally recognized U.S.-based brand. Category extensions are, of course, up for discussion, with leather goods being especially of interest, she said.
Given her work experience with other luxury companies, Pei said she brings many different perspectives regardless if that is through her work at larger organizations or more similarly sized privately owned ones. “I really want to pick and choose from my experiences what has worked best in the past, so that I can support the brand to be the most agile and achieve the most strategic and considered growth [possible versus] a super-fast expansion,” she said.
Knowing what didn’t work in the past with other companies can also be advantageous, Pei said. From pre- to post-COVID-19, there was a fundamental shift in all industries. “Being agile and flexible to adapt to any current or future changes to the industry will be super helpful,” she said.
