Joshua Schulman
Chief Executive, Burberry
The former president of Tapestry's Coach took over the reins at Burberry amid falling sales, leading an impressive turnaround for the British brand.
Joshua Schulman is the chief executive of Burberry. A veteran luxury executive with a track record of transforming heritage brands into commercial powerhouses, Schulman was appointed in July 2024 to lead the British house through a critical strategic "course correction" amid slowing global demand.
Under Schulman’s leadership, the brand launched the "Burberry Forward" strategy in November 2024. This plan represents a definitive shift away from recent avant-garde experimentation, instead anchoring the brand in timeless British luxury. The strategy prioritises Burberry’s core categories—outerwear and scarves—while re-aligning price architecture, particularly in leather goods, to better reflect the brand’s category authority. To support this reset, Schulman initiated an urgent turnaround plan including £100 million in targeted annual savings by FY2027 and a global workforce reduction of approximately 1,700 roles.
In the third quarter of FY2026 (ended December 2025), Burberry reported a 3 per cent increase in comparable retail sales, marking the brand’s first growth in two years. This turnaround was driven by double-digit growth in hero categories and the successful rollout of over 200 scarf bars in flagship stores globally. Schulman has also leveraged a data-driven approach to merchandising and strengthened the brand's reach with Gen Z customers, particularly in Greater China and South Korea.
Schulman’s extensive career in luxury includes serving as the CEO of Michael Kors (2021–2022) and a transformative tenure as Brand President and CEO of Coach (2017–2020), where he successfully elevated the brand’s positioning and streamlined retail operations. He previously spent five years as President of Bergdorf Goodman and five years as CEO of Jimmy Choo.
Schulman is a graduate of New York University, and today he is based in London, where he continues to steer Burberry toward a more balanced, heritage-focused, and commercially resilient future.
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Burberry’s CEO on Turning ‘Britishness’ Into a Global Language
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