Lynn Shanahan
Chief Executive Officer
Lynn Shanahan builds company value combining innovative market strategy with rigorous execution. She is passionate about empowering people and organizations to think with bold vision and act with confidence to propel consumer brands to profitable global growth.
Shanahan is the founder and managing partner of C2Group LLC, an organization that provides strategic operating management to drive growth for its clients. Recently, the C2G team was tapped to work with One Country Brands using celebrity influencers to launch brands targeted to the Heartland consumer. The brand and product launch of Miranda Lambert's Idyllwind was fully designed and developed by the team for the 2018 introduction. Additionally, she identified new market potential for Marimekko, a Finland-based textile, home and apparel design company; re-launched the brand in the U.S., Canada and Mexico developing retail, wholesale and e-commerce while serving as its North American president.
Shanahan was Chief Executive Officer of Kellwood Company, a $400M leading manufacturer and marketer of women's and girl's apparel. She re-positioned the portfolio company for rapid growth by developing and implementing Kellwood's market platform strategy focusing on building strong premium Contemporary brands, addressing the expanding Modern Missy segment and increasing market share in the competitive Juniors sector. Shanahan drove the growth of Kellwood's Contemporary platform by solidifying Rebecca Taylor's position as an omni-channel lifestyle brand; creating a class A leadership team to design and launch the new apparel line for the well-known footwear designer, Sam Edelman; and spearheading the acquisition of the popular Parker brand. To further address the contemporary Juniors customer, Kellwood launched the innovative e-commerce site, Mason & Belle.
During her 15-year tenure with Tommy Hilfiger, Shanahan was integral in shaping the company's vision, growth and future development plans serving in increasingly responsible leadership positions. As Group President of the $1.8B U.S. Wholesale and Global Licensing, she led strategy, merchandising, marketing, design, production and sales with full P&L responsibility. She developed the U.S. wholesale businesses managing the team of division presidents, including Men's and Women's Sportswear, Junior's and Children's, and had oversight of Global product licensing and International distribution businesses including 200 direct retail stores.
As leader of Strategy, M&A and Digital, she successfully developed the e-commerce division and transformed Tommy.com into a significant distribution channel. Shanahan also led the acquisition of the Karl Lagerfeld brand, the first step in diversifying Tommy Hilfiger into a multi-brand, multi-channel company.
As President of Global Licensing, she built the company's $1 billion licensing program with an innovative model of owning design, merchandising and marketing. She spearheaded the international distribution of the company's products throughout Asia Pacific, India, Latin America and South Africa for both wholesale and retail. She developed the company's 38 product category businesses including significant partnerships with Estee Lauder with fragrance and skincare of $350m, Revman with home design of $150m, and Stride Rite with footwear of $150m.
Shanahan holds an MS degree from Columbia University, and a BA from the University of Michigan. She is a member of The Committee of 200, the U.S. Foreign Policy Advisory Council for Women at the Council on Foreign Relations. She serves on the Board of Women for Women International.