Tiffany Names Ralph Lauren Veteran Roger Farah to Chairman Job

(Bloomberg) -- Tiffany & Co.’s board elected Roger Farah as its next chairman, turning to a longtime Ralph Lauren Corp. executive for guidance as the luxury brand works to reignite growth.

Farah will take over the job on Oct. 2 from Michael Kowalski, who will stay on as a director, Tiffany said on Thursday.

The 64-year-old Farah, who most recently served as a co-CEO of Tory Burch LLC, joined Tiffany’s board after the hedge fund activist Jana Partners LLC invested in the jeweler and began pushing for changes. He was one of three board directors that Jana put in earlier this year.

The New York-based jeweler has been trying to add more innovative products and revive store traffic. Tiffany made a series of management changes in the past year, including hiring a former Diesel SpA executive as its new chief executive officer.

Kowalski, who has been chairman since 2002, was CEO of Tiffany from 1999 until 2015. He then began a stint as interim chief this year before Diesel’s Alessandro Bogliolo was hired. Bogliolo will join the company next month.

“With the appointment of Alessandro as our new CEO, and under Roger’s leadership on the board, I believe we are well positioned,” Kowalski said in a statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Stephanie Wong in New York at swong139@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net, Cecile Daurat