Yahoo Finance Theory’s Jeffrey Kalinsky Leaves Role as Chief Creative Officer and Chief Merchant
Jeffrey Kalinsky, chief creative officer and chief merchant of Theory for the past two-and-a-half years, has left his role.
“Yes, I made a decision to leave and let Dinesh [Tandon, global chief executive of Theory] know on March 29 and my last day was April 12,” said Kalinsky, in a telephone interview Monday.
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“I can not tell you the joy I had designing the collection for the past two-and-a-half years. It was time for me to move on,” he said.
WWD has also learned that several executives left last week, including Lucas Ossendrijver, designer of Theory Project; Tiffany Wang, senior vice president of global merchandising, and Jacob Brown, head of brand content. They couldn’t be reached for comment.
Tandon also couldn’t be reached for comment on Monday.
Kalinsky, who had previous experience as a merchant and multibrand retailer, was responsible for both women’s and men’s design. Asked how the Theory collection had been performing under his direction, he said he thought it was doing well.
“Our wholesale partners were all very happy,” he said. Retailers from stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdale’s and Bergdorf Goodman were unavailable for comment Monday.
His collections were critically praised for their modern point of view. In a review of Theory’s fall 2024 collection, WWD reported, “Two years in, Kalinsky’s point of view remains strong and straightforward. While many looks continued to uphold his knack for head-to-toe monochrome dress (a gray flannel maxishirt atop ultra-wide pant), the collections’ shades of black, white, navy, Army green and camel were also layered together to further emphasize versatile wardrobing. Across 24 looks, Kalinsky’s modern codes offered something for everyone with a relaxed, polished ease.”
Kalinsky said he loved designing the clothes, learned a lot and loved what he was doing there. “I worked with a lot of really talented people,” he said. He felt his contribution to the Theory brand was the change in direction and point of view. “I do think that I gave it a real point of view which I felt we were missing before I got there.”
When Kalinsky took on the new role, he told WWD, “I plan to eat, sleep and dream Theory 24/7.”
Kalinsky is perhaps best known as the founder of luxury special stores Jeffrey New York, Jeffrey Atlanta and Jeffrey Palo Alto. Jeffrey made a splash in 1999 with a 12,000-square-foot store at 449 West 14th Street in New York’s Meatpacking District, which also happens to be Theory’s neighborhood. At that time, it was a rather desolate section of the city, and Jeffrey’s arrival proved to be a magnet for other designer stores.
In 2005, Nordstrom bought a majority stake in Jeffrey, and Kalinsky joined the Seattle-based retailer as director of designer merchandising. He later became executive vice president, working closely with the buying team and introducing designers like Gucci, Nina Ricci and Comme des Garçons to the offering. He oversaw strategic initiatives and creative collaborations for Nordstrom. In 2020, Nordstrom permanently closed its three Jeffrey specialty stores and parted ways with Kalinsky, whose final role with the company was as vice president, working closely with the marketing and merchandising teams. He later became a creative consultant to Theory before taking on his permanent role.
Asked if he enjoyed the Theory design role as much as running his own Jeffrey retail stores, Kalinksy said, “I feel that when my store closed it was like a death to me, but I also felt it gave me the opportunity to pursue my lifelong dream of designing clothing. So I feel like I’m doing exactly what I was meant to be doing right now.”
As for what his plans are, he said, “What’s great about a new project is you can do anything you want to do.” Whether or not he would design a collection under his own name, Kalinsky said, “I would never rule that out. Right now I’m taking time to meet with lots of people.”
Ossendrijver, a Dutch fashion designer synonymous with Lanvin menswear for 14 years, joined Theory in 2021. His role was to design men’s and women’s capsule collections “inspired by the urban lifestyle codes of tomorrow” and drawing on his expertise with “activewear-infused hybrid tailing aesthetic,” and his innovative approach to materials, Theory said when he joined. His first collections were unveiled in 2022.
For his 2023 collection, WWD wrote, “Ossendrijver worked to capture the energy of New York by using fluid fabrics, utilitarian details and kinetic prints in pieces designed to be layered.”
In an interview from his Paris studio last year, Ossendrijver told WWD about the role, “It’s a different way of working. The client and the scale are different. Theory is part of a big company and I now work a year in advance rather than four months, so the development cycle is much longer. But I feel I’m in a good place.” Theory is part of Japan’s Fast Retailing, which also owns Uniqlo. Theory Project also marks the first time he had designed womenswear. Ossendrijver also drew from his experience at Lanvin to create his first sneaker for Theory.
Prior to joining Theory, Wang was the global director of merchandising and sourcing at AllSaints from 2013 to 2019, prior to which she was at Burberry as director of merchandising, womenswear from 2006 to 2013. Earlier, Brown was creative director of branded content at Vogue before joining Theory.
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