Sudhakar Puvvada has joined VF Corp. as vice president with responsibility for its global jeans innovation center in Greensboro, N.C.
Puvvada was most recently vice president of technology platforms for Ashland Inc., a specialty chemicals company based in Ashland, Ky. Prior to that, he served in research and product development roles at companies in the home and personal care markets, including a 14-year stint at Unilever.
His hiring follows the appointment last week of Dan Cherian as vice president of global innovation for performance apparel and footwear, supervising the footwear innovation hub in Stratham, N.H., home base of VF’s Timberland brand, and the performance apparel center in Alameda, Calif., where VF’s The North Face brand is located.
The innovation hubs will be staffed by designers, engineers, chemists and other scientists focused on developing new materials and processes and enhancing existing ones.
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“Sudhakar will work closely with leaders throughout our global jeanswear business to combine existing VF knowledge with the expertise and insights from our external partners to build commercialization opportunities for our brands,” said Scott Baxter, vice president of VF and group president of jeanswear, imagewear and the South American region, to whom Puvvada reports. “His background in both technology and consumer goods will help to empower our innovation agenda and lead to sustainable, breakthrough innovations for consumers globally.”
VF introduced its innovation center strategy in August 2013.
With offices in Greensboro, VF is the largest U.S.-based apparel firm. Included in its $11.42 billion in 2013 revenues were $2.8 billion attributable to its jeanswear coalition, which includes the Wrangler and Lee brands, and $415.1 million in its contemporary brands group, which is led by Seven For All Mankind.