Capri Holdings announced on Tuesday the departure of Cedric Willmote from his role as chief executive officer at Michael Kors. Cedric Willmote who had served as Michael Kors chief executive since January 2023, will step down from the role and be replaced by Capri Holdings CEO and chairman John Idol.

The brand seems to be making changes at Michael Kors as it tries to reinvigorate its top brand. Capri also revealed that Philippa Newman, who joined the brand more than 14 years ago and was most recently its president of accessories and footwear, will take on the role of chief product office, overseeing design, products and licensing.

“I am excited to continue to partner with Michael, John and the leadership team to achieve our strategic objectives and reinvigorate the Michael Kors brand,” said Philippa Newman. “Michael Kors has strong brand equity and tremendous potential.”

“I am confident that by consolidating design, merchandising, production, and licensing under a unified team we can more effectively execute our strategies, including delivering more targeted product to different consumer cohorts, in order to return Michael Kors to growth,” she added.

These new changes are aimed at restarting momentum at the largest brand under the Capri umbrella and bring back the label to growth following the failed $8.5 million merger between the group and rival Tapestry, which owns Kate Spade, Coach, and Stuart Weitzmann.

The current reshuffle comes on the backdrop of several quarters of dwindling sales for parent company Capri and its fashion fold made up of Versace, Jimmy Choos, and its New York-based darling, Michael Kors.

In its most recent trading update, the brand posted a bigger-than expected drops in expected quarterly revenue, hurt by execution missteps across brands and a global slowdown in luxury goods demand.  Concerns particularly rose following the termination of the proposed merger of Capri and its competitor, Tapestry.

John Idol is reaffirming Capri’s efforts to retune brands like Michael Kors to growth, noting again that the group was implementing strategic initiatives to stabilize revenues and energize both new and loyal consumers.

Regarding the promotion of Newman, Idol said: “Philippa is a dynamic leader with an exceptional breadth of experience developing compelling product for our consumers. I am confident that in here new role as chief product office for Michael Kors, she will successfully lead the execution of our product transformation strategy and drive growth for Michael Kors across all channels.”