LONDON — Lydia King has left her post as Harrods fashion director after two years, the store has confirmed.
King, who joined Harrods in September 2019, is understood to be taking up another opportunity.
“We can confirm that Lydia left the business in August and we wish her the best in her new endeavors,” the store said Wednesday.
Her exit follows that of Maria Milano, Harrods’ head of head of buying, women’s wear and children’s wear, who will also be taking on a new role later this year.
Harrods declined to comment on its plans for the women’s fashion division, and whether it will fill King’s and Milano’s roles on a like-for-like basis.
King had joined Harrods from Selfridges where she held the role of women’s wear ready-to-wear buying and merchandising director.
“Lydia is a hugely experienced industry leader and I look forward to working together to deliver our ambitious vision for fashion at Harrods,” said Harrods’ managing director Michael Ward, when King joined the company in 2019.
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One of King’s most recent projects at Harrods was opening of an in-store and online popup for My Wardrobe HQ, the high-end circular fashion platform.
Last month, when the pop-up opened, King said Harrods had chosen to work with MWHQ because it has been “leading the way in responsible luxury and fashion circularity.”
She said MWHQ’s approach aligns with Harrods’ “own sustainability priorities around promoting circular fashion and creating luxury that lasts a lifetime. I am so proud to present the edit that we have curated, a collection of dresses that can be effortlessly styled for any occasion.”
King noted that over the past 18 months, “there have been many spectacular collections and stand-out pieces that haven’t had the chance to be seen or celebrated, so offering these pieces to our customers to rent for their next event is a way of giving these products a new life. Our fashion customers have more weddings, birthdays and other celebrations than ever before, and the joy of event dressing is back.”
The summer of 2021 has seen a whirlwind of retail exits in Britain, including that of Natalie Kingham who left Matchesfashion in July after more than a decade following a series of management shake-ups at the retailer..
Late last year, Kingham was promoted to the newly created role of global fashion officer. She reported to Elizabeth von der Goltz, who joined the company as chief commercial officer in February from Net-a-porter.
As reported, Matchesfashion is also on the hunt for a new chief executive officer after the exit of Ajay Kavan earlier this year after a year on the job.