WGSN names Kevin Silk as managing director

Global apparel trend forecasting service WGSN has named Kevin Silk as managing director, succeeding Jose Papa who has been appointed managing director of the Lions Festivals.

Silk is currently chief operations officer of WGSN and was previously executive vice president at trend forecasting service Stylesight before leading its merger with WGSN in 2014.

He will take up his new role on September 1 and will report to Duncan Painter and will continue to be based in New York.

Commenting on the appointment, Painter, chief executive of Ascential plc, said: "Kevin has worked closely alongside Jose in leading the WGSN business to great success over the last two years. Together with his vast experience in subscription and SaaS businesses, this made him the standout candidate to continue to execute the strategy and business plan for this critical product brand.”

Silk added: "WGSN is a really unique organisation that not only fuels creative development in our customers but also provides meaningful insights to drive their growth and profitability. I'm thrilled to be leading the business forward and look forward to working with our team and our customers to continue to develop innovative solutions.”