Tecovas has tapped Deckers alum David Lafitte as its new CEO, effective June 27.
As such, Paul Hedrick, who founded Tecovas in 2015 and has served as its CEO since then, will step into a full-time executive chairman role once Lafitte joins the team. According to the Austin-based western brand, Hedrick will remain actively involved in guiding Tecovas’ strategic direction and long-term vision.
“I’m incredibly excited to have David and our other new executives on board as we seek to expand our brand nationally over the coming years,” said Hedrick in a statement. “Tecovas has grown from an idea into a nine-figure brand in under seven years – yet I’ve never been more bullish on our growth ahead.”
Hedrick continued: “Our scale gives us the opportunity to invest in hiring so we can expand our retail footprint, expand product categories, and buy more inventory. With David’s wealth of leadership experience, I’ll be able to focus my time on the areas of the business where I can have the most meaningful impact – merchandising, design, crafting memorable Tecovas experiences, and building the Tecovas brand.”
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Lafitte joins the company from Deckers Brands where he served as chief operating officer – a role he’s held since 2015. He also held the role of outside general counsel for Deckers from 2012 until his move to COO. Prior to joining Deckers, Lafitte was a shareholder with the law firm Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth, P.C., where he was a member of the firm’s board of directors and executive committee.
“Tecovas is an exciting young brand with an enormous amount of potential and opportunity, and I do not see that slowing down,” added Lafitte. ” Thanks to the great foundation that Paul has laid, I’m looking forward to collaborating with him and the rest of the leadership team on further establishing the next great American footwear and apparel brand.”
Lafitte is the most recent hire in a string of new executive leadership team members who have been hired to execute the brand’s growth vision over the coming years following a recent $56 million round of Series C funding in January.
In addition to Lafitte, Tecovas has added four new executives to its leadership team in 2022. Gillian Kennedy joined the brand as chief marketing officer from marketing roles at On Running and Tillamook Cheese; Paul Choi is Tecovas’ new chief product officer following recent leadership positions at Orvis and Ralph Lauren; former Aldo executive Nathan Cray has started as chief supply chain officer; and Kim Heidt is in the newly created role of SVP of retail after serving as head of global retail at Deckers.
According to Tecovas, the company achieved more than 70% growth in 2021 and anticipates over 40% growth in 2022. The brand is expected to achieve more than $200 million in gross sales in 2022 and open approximately 15 stores in the next 18 months, the company said.
