Brixton announced a new president Wednesday, the brand’s second new leader in a little over a year.
Colleen O’Neill has a background in licensing and comes from Brixton’s new parent company Hybrid Apparel. She replaces CEO Seth Ellison, who is retiring.
Marketing photo courtesy of Brixton.
O’Neill’s most recent position at Hybrid was executive vice president licensing and emerging brands. Prior to joining Hybrid, she worked at Warner Bros., DreamWorks Animation, and The Walt Disney Company.
“I could not be more excited to join this team at such a pivotal time. Brixton has always stood out for its authentic voice and deep cultural roots,” O’Neill said in a statement. “I’m honored to join a brand with such a meaningful legacy and look forward to building on its foundation as we grow creatively and globally.”
Both Brixton and Hybrid are portfolio companies of Altamont Capital Partners. Hybrid CEO Bill Hutchison told SESO that Hybrid purchased Brixton in April of this year.
“This merger will enable Brixton to leverage the production size and scale of Hybrid, specifically printables,” he said. “We are leveraging back-office functions between the two companies, such as finance, systems, and distribution.”
Hybrid is a full-service apparel company offering design, development, sourcing, and manufacturing across multiple categories.
Ellison, who joined Brixton from Levi Strauss & Co., had implemented a new strategy at Brixton that included pivoting from making DTC a priority, including opening Brixton stores, to refocusing on the wholesale channel. He also focused the brand on the core of the business – U.S. men’s wholesale, e-commerce, headwear, and flannel shirts – In addition to growing its less developed divisions such as women’s, international, and outerwear.
SESO asked Hutchison if he had any concerns that having another new president in a short time frame could be disruptive to staff or to Brixton’s strategy.
“No, in fact we feel very confident about the current state and go-forward strategy of the brand,” Hutchison said. “Seth played a very specific and important role during a key transition time for the brand, utilizing his valuable history and expertise. We feel this is the right time in Brixton’s evolution for Colleen to take the reins with help from Seth during the transition. Colleen brings a wealth of brand building experience that we feel will be valuable for Brixton.”
Hutchison added that O’Neill’s deep understanding of product marketing and cross-functional leadership makes her the ideal person to lead Brixton into its next era.
