Lands' End Cancels Former CEO's 'Canvas' Line

After taking the reins at Lands' End Business Outfitters, former Dolce & Gabanna and Ferrari executive Federica Marchionni introduced high-end lines like Canvas by Lands' End.

Not long after taking control, Marchionni parted ways with the company (after causing tension with other high-ranking company officials). Now, Lands' End is ending the Canvas by Lands' End line.

"We're not producing any more Canvas," Lands' End CEO Jerome Griffith said to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The effect won't be immediate, however. Lands' End can't flip a switch and make it all disappear, after all.

When Griffith took over in March, the company's manufacturing facilities were already making Canvas products for the fall collection. Instead of its planned rollout, though, the company will only offer a "small fall assortment" of the line, specifically for women only, and will call lit "Lands' End Canvas."

This shows Lands' End taking a step away from the high fashion direction that Marchionni's Lands' End was heading in. Griffith was previously the president and CEO of Tumi Holdings, and said his primary focus is producing quality products.

"The biggest thing, No. 1, is get the product right," Griffith told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "We have an incredibly loyal customer base. They love our product, and you need to sell product to these people, and to people like them. you don't need to go out and find a completely different customer who doesn't share your company's values."

While his focus primarily seems to be bringing the company back to a more conservative offering, rather than Marchionni's grandiose ideas, Griffith alluded to increasing Lands' End's technological footprint.

"We're an e-commerce company that has the opportunity to have stores, but we have to run it like it's an e-commerce company," he said. "We run it today like it's a very good cataloger, and we are—we're a super-good cataloger—but we're not embracing the new technology that's out there or the process by which you analyze data."

For more information on Lands' End, visit www.landsend.com.