American Apparel announced this morning that it has named Scott Brubaker as its new interim CEO, effective immediately. Brubaker will replace John Luttrell, who was the company’s chief financial officer and took over the CEO position after founding CEO Dov Charney was removed from the position in June.
Brubaker, 43, is a managing director at the San Francisco-based consultancy firm Alvarez & Marsal and has previously held interim jobs for specialty retailers throughout his 21 years in the industry. He has a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Pennsylvania. As a Certified Turnaround Professional and a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor, Brubaker specializes in “business diagnostics, plan development and financial strategies for corporate turnarounds, acquisitions and restructurings,” according to Alvarez & Marsal.
Luttrell, who is resigning from the company, will be replaced by Hassan Natha, the former chief financial officer of Fisher Communications and Jones Soda Co. The 55-year-old has more than 20 years of experience in finance, including a decade at Nike’s Bauer Nike Hockey Inc. The Certified Public Accountant has a bachelor’s degree in commerce from Concordia University and a graduate diploma of public accountancy from McGill University.
“The Board is delighted to welcome Scott Brubaker and Hassan Natha to American Apparel,” Allan Mayer, American Apparel’s co-chairman of the board, said. “We are confident that their experience and leadership will help the company achieve its goals, and we look forward to working with both of them.”
“We also want to express our gratitude to John Luttrell for his years of service and many contributions to American Apparel,” added David Danziger, co-chairman of the board. “We appreciate his willingness to serve temporarily as interim chief executive officer of the company and we wish him success in his future endeavors.”
Charney is serving as a paid consultant while the awaiting the results of an investigation into his conduct, according to the Los Angeles Times.
