Dockers’ New CEO Natalie MacLennan Lays Out Hipper, Casual Vision
Casual mainstay Dockers is getting a refresh.
And leading the effort is the brand’s new chief executive officer Natalie MacLennan, who quietly took on the role in May and is stepping into the spotlight with a new blog post about the business.
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The nearly 40-year-old brand, which is part of Levi Strauss & Co., has been through cycles of ups and downs over the years — from when it first rode the business casual trend to big growth to its struggle to find its place as laid-back dressing became even more prominent and more brands got into the game.
Now, the business is in the midst of what it describes as a “a massive transformation to share its ‘California Point of View’ aesthetic.” It’s a look that is head-to-toe laid-back and sunny, targeting a younger audience with a new marketing and distribution.
“It’s not an entirely new strategy, but consistency is key,” MacLennan told WWD.
She took the gig over from Santiago Cucci, who became CEO of Dockers just before the pandemic and left the company recently. He is now interim executive president of the Olympique Lyonnais football club.
MacLennan had a big hand in determining the brand’s direction and is now pushing that plan on.
“In my previous role [as vice president of global retail, e-commerce and licensing at Dockers], we spent a lot of time and attention really digging into what made sense and what would drive the brand forward,” she said.
“I led that strategy development, and I still believe it’s the right approach,” MacLennan said. “For the most part, it’s all about flawless execution and managing the team in a way that achieves success. But there are a few areas that we can tighten up, including our target age group. We realize that, while our product is resonating with the 20-, 30-year-old demographic, our brand awareness among that group needs work. By focusing there via deeper engagements with brand ambassadors as well as an expanded presence on social, we know it will create a halo effect with the Millennial audience.”
Dockers’ current ambassadors range from ballers to bikers to skaters and include Jordan Poole, Matthias Dandois, Johny Salido, Gaël Monfils and Lil Dre.
Maud Le Car is an ambassador for the women’s line, which currently accounts for a low-single-digit piece of the business, but Dockers is looking to keep growing with women as it expands internationally and brings in younger shoppers.
The brand is also doubling down on its direct-to-consumer business and its international growth with plans to open more than 30 stores this year, mostly across Europe and Latin America with two new doors in the U.S.
“This is an especially important strategy for reaching younger generations, who crave both a physical and online shopping experience,” the CEO said.
Dockers has been a question mark at Levi Strauss for a while.
The broader company has seen a remarkable turnaround at the denim business under corporate CEO Chip Bergh, but Dockers seemed to have trouble finding traction as consumers and the fashion market shifted.
The latest approach — which has the brand led by a dedicated leadership team — seems to have brought more focus.
Chief financial officer Harmit Singh put it this way on a call with Wall Street analysts in April 2022: “Dockers was a brand that grew up from within the company. But it was part of the Levi’s group. So the merchants are part of the Levi’s merchants. The marketeers were part of the Levi’s. And Dockers, as you know, has struggled.
“And so we had a couple of choices 18 months ago,” Singh said. “We could either exit Dockers, but we would give it to a private equity who would find a way to dedicate time and turn it around, or we could keep it and run it like private equity. And that’s what we chose to do. We actually separated the team from the Levi’s group.… That allowed us to help turn around Dockers. For the first time, Dockers is no longer a drag. It’s actually growing.”
And MacLennan is now leading the way.
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