The North Face brand president to step down

Caroline Brown, the global brand president of The North Face, is due to step down at the end of March after nearly two years in the position.

Brown had first joined the brand’s parent company VF Corporation in 2024, initially as a member of the conglomerate’s board of directors before becoming part of its global leadership team. Her departure was confirmed during the group’s Citi Global Consumer & Retail Conference.

Prior to VF, Brown was the managing director of Closed Loop Partners, a role she took up after serving as CEO of Donna Karan International for over two years; president of Carolina Herrera for over four years; and CEO of Akris US for three years.

Her appointment to the helm of The North Face came at a time when VF was in need of major change at the brand, Bracken Darrell, chief executive officer of VF, said in a statement to WWD.

“Her time in this role gave us the foundation we were looking for and set us up for another talent to step in with a strong leadership team in place, a new strategy and good momentum,” Darrell added.

Now, The North Face is said to be in a stable position, having recorded an 8 percent sales growth in the third quarter ended December 27. Despite this, Darrell intends to continue simplifying the business, with a focus on product development at the core of the strategy.

Brown will be succeeded by Chris Goble, who joined VF in 2024, overseeing Dickies as global brand president. After the label was sold to Bluestar Alliance in November 2025, Goble was made president of emerging brands at VF.

Prior to joining the conglomerate, Goble had led the turnaround of the Gap brand, running the North American business as, most recently, chief product officer and general manager of the region.