LONDON — David Riddiford, the buying and merchandising director at Selfridges, has been named senior vice president, merchandising, at Lane Crawford, the Hong Kong-based luxury goods retailer.
Riddiford, who joined Selfridges in 1998, will take up his new role at Lane Crawford in Hong Kong on July 1, reporting to Jennifer Woo, president of Lane Crawford, Hong Kong Ltd.
The position is a new one.
At Lane Crawford, Riddiford will spearhead the five merchandising teams — women’s wear, men’s wear, jewelry, home furnishings and cosmetics — for all stores in Hong Kong and mainland China.
“It was time for me to move on, and I wanted to move back to Asia,” Riddiford told WWD in a telephone interview. “I’m very excited about the new job; China is a huge market.”
Selfridges has not named a replacement, and Riddiford said all heads of buying at the store will report to Selfridges chief executive Paul Kelly. As reported, Kelly replaced Selfridges veteran Peter Williams, who stepped down in February, just six months after Canadian billionaire Galen Weston bought the company.
Before joining Selfridges, Riddiford held key management posts at Asprey Group, British Shoe Corporation, Harvey Nichols and Nuance-Watson, a duty-free operator based in Hong Kong.
Lane Crawford, a privately held company, sells luxury goods, including designer collections, footwear and accessories for men and women, home furnishings, jewelry and cosmetics. It has a retail network of four Lane Crawford stores in Hong Kong, three in mainland China and a string of freestanding boutiques.