J.Crew names Johanna Uurasjarvi chief design officer

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Jun 19, 2018

J. Crew Group named Johanna Uurasjarvi as its chief design officer on Monday, where she will be responsible for guiding the overall design direction for the J.Crew brand. 

 
Uurasjarvi will replace Somsack Sikhounmuong who left the struggling retailer in September, following the departures of Jenna Lyons and Mickey Drexler. 
 
Uurasjarvi joins J.Crew from West Elm, where she was the creative director of the lifestyle and specialty home furnishing company, and helped build its successful “New Modern” assortment. Prior to that, she was the creative director of Anthropologie for a decade, where she built the company's first in-house design team.

"Johanna brings more than 25 years of fashion and design experience with a unique understanding of how customers shop and live. She is a visionary with impeccable taste who will undoubtedly inspire our team, our partners, and our customers," said Jim Brett, chief executive officer of J. Crew Group.
 
She will report to Brett, who she has a work history with, dating back to their time at West Elm and Anthropologie. 
 
"I am thrilled to work with Johanna again. We had a powerful and successful partnership at West Elm and Anthropologie, and to work with her again is an honor,” added Brett. 
 
Born and raised in Finland, Uurasjarvi graduated from Helsinki’s Aalto University where she studied art and design. 
 
Earlier this month, J.Crew announced a brand relaunch scheduled for September including expanded collections to revitalize the business. 
 
The brand saw its turnover fall by 7 percent ($391.9 million) and by 6 percent on a constant exchange basis, in the first quarter of fiscal 2018.