There is a senior executive shuffle at Nike. John Hoke, a 30-year Swoosh veteran, is moving from chief design officer to chief innovation officer. Martin Lotti, who most recently served as chief design officer for the Jordan brand, is now chief design officer. Meanwhile, Nicole Hubbard Graham, a former 18-year Nike veteran and most recently co-founder of the minority-owned creative agency Adopt, is slated to become Nike’s new chief marketing officer on Jan. 2. In her new role, she succeeds a retiring Dirk-Jan van Hameren who will leave Nike next summer. In an unrelated appointment, Dr. Mudge Erdirik Dogan is joining Nike as the company’s new chief technology officer.

K-Swiss has appointed its former brand president Barney Waters as international brand president. Waters served as brand president from 2016-2021 at K-Swiss, and was most recently president of Garrett Leight California Optical.

Performance sock brand Swiftwick announced the hiring of former Away executive Mark Chou as CEO, along with the appointment of new board members Jimmy Leach, former VP of International Sales at TOMS and K.P. McNeill, CEO of Imogene + Willie and co-founder and former CEO of Billy Reid. These new additions to Swiftwick's leadership come as the company has raised new capital to continue scaling the business, now in its 15th year.

Chou joins Swiftwick after nearly four years as the founder and managing partner of Bradhurst Ventures, a consultancy providing fractional COO/CMO services to consumer brands. Prior to Bradhurst, Chou served in multiple executive roles at luggage brand Away, where he joined as the third employee and helped profitably scale the company from launch to $150+ million in annual revenue in less than three years. Chou brings over a dozen years of experience in consumer / retail, venture capital, and investment banking to Swiftwick.

Comfort One Shoes is acquiring Saxon Shoes, the Richmond, VA-based independent footwear store founded in 1953 by Gloria and Jack Weiner. The acquisition includes the Saxon Shoes store, brand, and inventory. Comfort One Shoes president Garrett Breton, in a LinkedIn post, stated that Comfort One is “committed to maintaining the Saxon Shoes name and its diverse footwear offerings for all.” He added that the purchase is a “continuation of our growth strategy, focusing on acquiring independent shoe stores to protect and enhance their legacies.” Amanda Weiner will join Comfort One Shoes, leading the store’s presence in the Richmond market.