Qualifications
In 1981,Angela Ahrendts received a degree in marketing and merchandising from the Ball State University (Bachelor of Arts).
Career
Angela Ahrendts began her career in the fashion industry in New York. From 1989 to 1996, she was working at Donna Karan International. In 1996, she joined Henri Bendel as Executive Vice Presiden and two years later, In 1998, she moved on to the Fifth & Pacific Companies , where she took over the responsibility for Liz Claiborne brand in 2002. Some important acquisitions, such as Lucky Brand Jeans and Juicy Couture, took place under the guidance of Angela Ahrendts in 2001.
In 2006, Angela Ahrendts joined the british fashion house Burberry as a General Director. She developed successful strategy to penetrate the Chinese market and found an effective way to fight against the brand counterfeiters. Burberry’s distribution network was expanded by opening new boutiques and launch of the online shops.
During the eight years under the guidance of Angela Ahrendts, the group’s turnover grew from 850 million pounds to 2 billion pounds, and the share price of the company almost tripled. Angela stressed the importance of the online media in Burberry marketing strategy : digital marketing accounted for 40% of the total marketing budget of the company. As a result, Burberry was regularly named “the most connected brand in luxury”.
In June 2014, Angela Ahrendts joins Apple Inc. as a vice president of online retail business, replacing John Browett. The company management hopes that Ahrendts will bring Apple to the leading position in the industry, after her tremendous success at Burberry.
Anecdotes
In 2013, Angela Ahrendts was awarded an honour of a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, although she is not a British citizen. Angela Ahrendts is currently the highest paid CEO in the UK.
