66°North names ex-Saks Potts CEO as new strategy chief

Icelandic outdoor brand 66°North is ramping up its expansion plans and a big part of this will be its new Strategy and Business Development Director, Josefine Laigaard.

She’s joined the business with immediate effect and will be a key player in its plan to become “the first truly global Icelandic brand”. 

The company said Laigaard “will play an integral role in the expansion plans, working in the brand’s new satellite head office in Copenhagen and working closely with the HQ in Reykjavik”.

We’re told she has “vast strategic and commercial expertise within the fashion industry”, most recently serving as CEO of the Danish new luxury brand Saks Potts. Before that she was Head of Business Development at Ganni. 

She began her career as a fashion designer “but has always been occupied with how to build and scale brands internationally, hence her transition into management consulting at Ernst & Young before rejoining the fashion industry”. 

She was named one of the Top 100 Business Talents in Denmark in 2021.

Laigaard’s arrival comes shortly after Jeppe Møller was named Chief Commercial Officer and the company also made some important hires within the wholesale team. Another key development around the same time was Kei Toyoshima being appointed Creative Director with his debut collection due for AW24. 

The brand currently has 28 wholesale stockists globally, including Selfridges, Harrods, END, Mr Porter, KaDeWe, SSENSE, SneakersNStuff and Beaker. It also opened its European flagship store on London’s Regent Street in November 2022.