Key Takeaways:
- Former Donna Karan International CEO Caroline Brown’s career spans luxury fashion and performance apparel.
- Burton owner Donna Carpenter says Brown knows how to keep an iconic brand authentic while continuing to evolve it.
- The appointment follows the September naming of Denny Bruce as Burton CEO as the company approaches its 50th anniversary.
Burton Snowboards has named Caroline Brown, most recently Global Brand President of The North Face, to its Board of Directors, adding an executive with decades of experience building and evolving global fashion and outdoor brands.
The board serves as a group of advisors to Burton, which is privately owned by Donna Carpenter. The addition comes about a month after the company named former Vans, Dickies, and Gozney executive Denny Bruce as CEO.
“Caroline brings a deep understanding of how performance, fashion, innovation and culture come together to make a brand matter,” said Donna Carpenter, Chair of the Board and owner of Burton, in a statement. “She knows how to honor the authenticity of an iconic brand while continuing to evolve it, reach new consumers and stay culturally relevant. Her background and experience will be a strong addition to our board as we continue building Burton’s next chapter. Beyond her resume, Caroline is thoughtful, strategic, curious and grounded as a human being and leader. We couldn’t be more excited to have her.”
From Armani to The North Face
Brown most recently led The North Face’s vision, strategy, and business execution worldwide as Global Brand President, and was a member of the VF Corporation Global Leadership Team.
Before joining VF, she was a Managing Director at Closed Loop Partners, a New York-based investment firm and innovation center, where she led investments in sustainable solutions across fashion and beauty.
Brown previously served as CEO of Donna Karan International and DKNY. Earlier in her career, she was President of luxury fashion house Carolina Herrera and U.S. CEO of Akris. She started at Giorgio Armani, where she spent more than a decade in marketing and communications leadership roles.
Her board experience includes VF Corporation and Eileen Fisher, among others. Brown is also an Advisor to the Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan School of Management, has served on the advisory board of the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative, and has advised the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and the H&M Global Change Awards.
“Burton lives right at the heart of snowboarding, 50 years into the journey and looking ahead to the future,” Brown said in a statement. “I am so excited to join the board for this company rooted in authenticity, vision, unbeatable passion and deep belief in the value of culture. Driven by purpose and guided by riders as their foundation, the Burton team has built something truly extraordinary. I know the next 50 years for Burton will be as exciting as the last, and I am thrilled to contribute to this path forward.”
New CEO in Place Ahead of 50th Anniversary
Brown joins the board as Burton settles into new leadership. Bruce took over as CEO on September 21, 2026, succeeding Carpenter, who served as interim CEO following longtime CEO John Lacy’s June 2026 departure after nearly 29 years with the company.
Bruce’s history with Burton dates to 2003, when he joined as Mid-Atlantic Brand Manager, a role he held until 2005. He went on to senior leadership roles at Vans, Skullcandy, and Traeger.
Like Brown, Bruce previously led a VF Corporation brand. As Global Brand President of Dickies, he oversaw the transformation of the 100-year-old workwear brand across core and premium lifestyle channels. Most recently, he was CEO of Gozney, where he took the company from a Europe-focused DTC business to a global omnichannel brand.
Bruce is relocating to Vermont and is based at Burton’s headquarters in Burlington.
Jake Burton Carpenter founded Burton out of his Vermont barn in 1977. The company was the first snowboard company to become a certified B Corporation and has offices in Austria, Japan, Australia, Canada, and China.
