LONDON – Burberry has appointed Joshua Schulman as CEO, replacing Jonathan Akeroyd, who is leaving the company with immediate effect and by mutual agreement with the board.
Schulman, 52, joins Burberry “with a track record of driving transformative growth and value creation as CEO of global luxury, fashion and retail businesses,” said Burberry, which is grappling with a slowdown in luxury sales and trying to reposition the business at the high end of the market.
Schulman was previously CEO of Michael Kors and Coach, where he also served as brand president. Before that, he was president of Bergdorf Goodman for five years at Neiman Marcus Group.
From 2007 to 2012, Joshua was CEO of Jimmy Choo in London. Previously, he was executive vice president worldwide merchandising and sales at Yves Saint Laurent and worldwide director women’s ready-to-wear at Gucci.
Retail veteran Joshua Schulman was previously CEO of Jimmy Choo. Pictured here with then-creative head Tamara Mellon.
Photo courtesy of
He will join Burberry on July 17 and will be based at the company’s headquarters here. He will lead the executive committee and report to Burberry chairman Gerry Murphy and the board.
Murphy said: “I am delighted that Josh is joining Burberry as our new CEO. Josh is a proven leader with an excellent track record of building global luxury brands and driving profitable growth. He has a strong understanding of our brand and shares our ambition to build on Burberry’s unique creative heritage. His extensive experience across luxury and fashion will be key to realising Burberry’s full potential.”
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Jonathan Akeroyd for the contribution he has made to Burberry. Jonathan has set out a clear strategy for growth, which we will continue to build on,” he added.
Schulman said: “I am extremely honoured to be joining Burberry as CEO. Burberry is an extraordinary luxury brand, quintessentially British, with as much heritage as innovation. Its original purpose of protecting people from the elements is more relevant than ever.
“I look forward to working with [creative director] Daniel Lee and the talented teams are driving global growth, delighting our customers and writing the next chapter of the Burberry story,” he added.
Burberry Spring 2025 Ready-to-Wear collection. Going forward, Burberry will focus on its core strength in outerwear and, most importantly, its signature trench coat.
Thanks to Burberry
Schulman is a well-rounded retail leader known for building brands and rebuilding them. His appointment as CEO marks his return to the industry after two years and his return to the UK after 12 years following his departure from Jimmy Choo.
He has kept a low profile for the past two years after leaving Capri Holdings in September 2022. He led the company’s Michael Kors brand and was set to become CEO of Capri, succeeding John Idol.
In a surprise move, Idol stayed on and Schulman left with a divorce settlement worth millions of dollars.
Before joining Capri Holdings, he was CEO of Coach. Before his arrival, the brand had been struggling and revenues had been shrinking for years. Schulman restored the brand to quality growth and gained market share, moves that earned him praise in the financial community.
Directors describe him as strategic, organized, methodical and execution-oriented.
He’s also a lateral thinker. During his pre-Coach days as president of Bergdorf Goodman, Schulman brought in some unexpected labels like Vetements, Off-White and Fenty by Puma, while maintaining the luxury appeal by emphasizing luxury mainstays like Chanel, Valentino and Goyard.
During his five years as CEO of Jimmy Choo, he transformed the company from a niche player to a multimillion-dollar global luxury brand. He doubled the number of stores, entered new categories and took over the Japanese and Hong Kong operations. In 2011, he sold the company to Labelux for £500 million.
It is therefore not surprising that Burberry’s board of directors wanted him as a member and why they ultimately decided to appoint him as CEO.
Murphy said during the call that the board “hadn’t had any serious conversations with anyone about replacing Jonathan until recently. Josh was known to us within the company and we had talked to him about a board position. And as things developed, it became clear that he was interested in a larger role and we took action,” he said.
According to Burberry, Schulman’s remuneration arrangements have been established in accordance with the executive remuneration policy approved by shareholders.
His salary is £1.2 million a year and he is eligible for a target bonus of 100 percent of salary and up to 200 percent of salary, and a Burberry share plan award of 162.5 percent of salary.
Akeroyd, who joined Burberry from Versace two years ago and later hired Lee as creative director, will not be eligible for a bonus for the current financial year and all unvested share awards will be forfeited in full.
Asked about the company’s future strategy and whether Lee would keep his job, Murphy said: “Daniel’s not going anywhere. He’s looking forward to working with Josh. They’ve already spoken and will be meeting later this week. So there’s no change in terms of creative leadership,” he said.
Murphy also stressed that Burberry had no plans to become Britain’s Coach, despite hiring the US brand’s former CEO.
“Josh’s background is actually much closer to luxury than anything else, and he has a very clear view that Burberry is a true luxury brand and has spectacular potential in what Jonathan called ‘modern British luxury’.
“There is no intention to change that ambition, or to become a British Coach. That is not to belittle Coach in any way – it is just a different business,” he said, adding that Burberry also had no ambition to become a British Louis Vuitton.
Murphy added that Burberry made the leadership change due to a number of factors.
“Our strategy has been quite coherent for a while, but with the knowledge we have now, in a weak market, we may have gone a little too far too quickly with a creative transition at a time when customers feel a little more challenged and are a little more conservative in trying new things, especially new units in higher price ranges,” he said.
He stressed that Burberry’s shift toward more recognizable, classic pieces and outerwear is not a signal that the brand is changing direction or becoming more mass-market.
“It’s not about lowering prices, it’s about making sure we have a product that people want, at prices that are acceptable to them from Burberry,” Murphy said, adding that in the future there will be some high price points for merchandise “with more innovation, design content and higher-end materials.
“It’s about having a more inclusive and democratic brand, not about cutting prices or reversing strategies. It’s about rebalancing to make sure people get what they want from Burberry.
Schulman’s appointment closes a very short chapter for Akeroyd, who joined Burberry in 2022 from Versace, part of Capri Holdings. Before joining Versace, Akeroyd was CEO of Alexander McQueen, after starting his career at Harrods.
Less than two years ago, Akeroyd presented his plan to position Burberry further in the market segment, so that it could compete with brands such as Dior, Louis Vuitton and Gucci.
He forecast revenue growth of £4bn in the medium term and £5bn in the long term, at constant exchange rates and with ‘good’ margin performance.
His new vision included ‘a renewed focus on Britishness’, doubling sales of leather goods, footwear and womenswear, and 50 per cent growth in outerwear sales in the medium term.
Another ambition of Akeroyd was to grow the share of accessories to more than 50 percent of group turnover in the medium term.
The plans came with hefty price tags for the merchandise: £2,000 for the medium-sized Rocking Horse shoulder bag; £2,000 for a long Gabardine Trench Coat; and £690 for a pair of Check Knit Box trainers.
While these prices may seem normal in the luxury goods sector, they come as a shock to many loyal British customers and non-fashion institutional investors who see Burberry as a heritage brand that should grow by selling affordable classic products.
Akeroyd also counted on Lee, whose bags and accessories have been a huge success at Bottega Veneta, to produce bestsellers, but none have arrived yet.
The strategy might have been successful at another time, but with China (historically one of Burberry’s biggest markets) still reluctant to spend and demand in the US tepid, it has hurt the share price and hampered sales.
It is now up to Schulman, Burberry’s fourth CEO in seven years, to reposition the brand for profit, unlock the dividend payments and restore the brand to its former glory as a leading purveyor of outerwear.