ASOS lures Phipps from Nike to head sports and outdoor

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Sep 7, 2022

ASOS is beefing up its sportswear and outdoor commitment. The online fashion giant has appointed former Nike exec Tim Phipps to head the category across both own and third-party brands.

As its new director of sportwear and outdoor, Phipps joins with a strong background in the category. He spent nine years at Nike, including leading its sportswear sales for EMEA and most recently as senior business director for its NBHD and SNKR initiatives. Prior to joining Nike, he was head of global footwear at Fred Perry and has been UK fashion sales manager for Reebok.

He is also expected to play a key role in the company’s commercial leadership team and will be involved in delivering a critical part of the retailer’s growth strategy by helping to evolve the sportswear and outdoor category.

It's a category that remains a hugely important and popular one to the fashion sector. Since the pandemic and its accompanying lockdowns increased the demand for athleisure and fitness sportswear in general, the category show little signs of diminishing as consumers returned to buying occasionwear.

However, as the prospects of a recession deepens, its importance may be growing in importance again as fitness shares the limelight with entertainment pursuits, certainly at the value end of the market.