OREANDA-NEWS. Fast Retailing today announces the appointment of four new Group Officers to its senior leadership team.

"As our business continues to rapidly grow worldwide, we are excited and pleased to welcome such experts to our senior leadership team. Each person brings a specific set of skills and experiences that will help us launch the next stage of our global growth," commented Tadashi Yanai, Fast Retailing Chairman, President & CEO.

LeAnn Nealz, Chief Creative Officer for UNIQLO Global Design, has joined the company from Juicy Couture, where she served as President and Chief Creative Officer. Prior to that role, Ms. Nealz was the Executive Vice President and Chief Design Officer at American Eagle Outfitters. In addition, she brings over twenty years of design experience with such brands as Gap, Theory, Banana Republic, and Calvin Klein. Ms. Nealz is principally based at UNIQLO in New York City, but divides her time between the design teams in New York and Tokyo.

John Fleming, CEO of UNIQLO Ecommerce globally, has joined the company after almost ten years at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. He was most recently the company's Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer, where he was responsible for all products and services, new formats, customer experience and Walmart.com. Originally joining Wal-Mart as Chief Merchant of Walmart.com, Mr. Fleming has also served as Chief Operating Officer, eventually becoming President and CEO of Walmart.com. Prior to Wal-Mart, Mr. Fleming worked for twenty years at the Target Corporation Department Store Division in a variety of merchandising roles. He is based at UNIQLO in San Francisco.

Steven Sare, Chief Merchandising Officer of UNIQLO USA, has joined the company from Express, Inc., where he most recently served as Senior Vice President and General Merchandising Manager. With over twenty years of experience in the US apparel business, Mr. Sare has led the merchandising, design, planning and allocation teams within a division of Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc., and he has also worked in the areas of merchandising and business development at Banana Republic. Mr. Sare is based at UNIQLO in New York City.

Jorgen Andersson, will join the company on January 13 as Co-Global Chief Marketing Officer of UNIQLO. Originally from Stockholm, Sweden, Mr. Andersson has close to thirty years' experience in the apparel industry, having held various roles at H&M AB (Hennes & Mauritz), including Global Chief Product Officer Menswear, CEO of H&M Switzerland, Chief Marketing Officer H&M Brand and Global Brand & New Business Director for the H&M Group. Prior to joining UNIQLO, Mr. Andersson was the Global Brand & New Business Director at Esprit Holdings Ltd. Mr. Andersson will be based in London and will split his time between the UNIQLO Europe office in London and the UNIQLO Global HQ office in Tokyo.