• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, June 11, 2020

WPP has appointed Angela Ahrendts to its board of directors effective July 1. 

With a career in fashion and retail spanning more than three decades Ahrendts was senior vice president /Retail at Apple from 2014 to 2019. She was responsible for global retail, and is credited with integrating the company’s physical and digital businesses across its online store, app and more than 500 retail stores in 25 countries. 

Earlier she served as CEO at Burberry from 2006 to 2014. There she is credited with leading the company through a period of global growth through the adoption of new technologies, including ecommerce and updated in-store technology, the launch of new product lines and expansion into new markets. 

Prior to Burberry, Ahrendts was executive vice president at Liz Claiborne and President of Donna Karan International, Inc.  She was a member of the UK Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Council from 2010 to 2015 and was named Honorary Dame Commander of the British Empire in 2014. 

She is a member of the Global Leadership Council of the Oxford University Saïd Business School and a non-executive director on the boards of Ralph Lauren Corporation and Airbnb, Inc. She also sits on the boards of Charity: Water and The HOW Institute for Society.