Kizik taps Nike, Converse vet as new CEO
Footwear brand Kizik and its parent company, HandsFree Labs, are announcing a new Kizik CEO, Gareth Hosford, who will help lead the company as it seeks to become a more omnichannel brand. Hosford is taking over from Monte Deere, who steered the company for the past six years.
Hosford brings more than 20 years of retail experience to Kizik, including over a decade at Nike as the vp and gm of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Then he was COO at Converse before helping launch fitness apparel startup Omorpho, serving as COO and CFO and heading up partnerships for more than four years.
In an exclusive interview with Modern Retail, Deere said stepping down is a “life stage decision,” though he’ll remain a member of Kizik’s board and aid in navigating new licensing partnerships. Beyond its own brand, Kizik has a larger goal to license out its intellectual property for slip-on and hands-free shoes to other companies, and it’s also exploring new wholesale partnerships with an eye toward global expansion.
But getting a new leader is a key part of Kizik and HandsFree Labs’ larger strategy to become the next $1 billion shoe company, Deere said.
“We’ve built a startup in the e-commerce channel with a laser focus on hands-free footwear tech. But now it’s time to build a multi-brand, omnichannel juggernaut,” he said. “Gareth is the right person to lead that growth. We knew we wanted someone with global strategy experience and a strong track record in omnichannel growth, especially in wholesale.”
Deere said what made Hosford stand out in a pack of candidates was his years of experience in global wholesale and DTC development. He’s had an “entrepreneurial” role at Omorpho, a Portland, Oregon-based startup that makes weighted vests for athletes and fitness training. Last year, it scored in-store displays in a wholesale relationship with Dick’s Sporting Goods and, more recently, it became the official weighted vest for Orangetheory fitness studios. Previously at Nike and Converse, Hosford worked in roles that involved scaling global wholesale relationships. His time at Nike included overseeing strategy and business development for its global football division.
Hosford is joining Kizik at a time when the company is eyeing growth — not just in sales, but also in future partnerships with other brands. Launched in 2017 as a direct-to-consumer brand, Kizik shifted focus last year toward retail expansion. It landed in more than 1,000 wholesale locations and opened six of its own stores. The brand now brings in over $100 million in annual revenue.
But it also has filed for around 200 utility patents for hands-free or slip-on shoe designs. It currently licenses to Nike, and Deere said there will be additional partnerships announced this year. As a board member with experience in intellectual property, Deere said he’ll be working to support Hosford’s leadership on the partnerships side. “We’ve seen that consumers around the world are asking for hands-free footwear, and we can’t build our Kizik brand fast enough to meet all that global demand,” Deere said. “So we’re making our technology available to partners like Nike and other best-in-class footwear companies.”
It’s not the first time the company has tapped an industry veteran for a leadership role. Back in November, Kizik announced Andreas Harlow as svp of design, while CMO Elizabeth Drori joined last summer after leading marketing and e-commerce initiatives at Sperry.
More broadly speaking, the leadership changes at Kizik are a reflection of bigger trends in the world of retail. Barry Thomas, senior global thought leader of the insights division at Kantar, said companies are operating in a state of “business not as usual,” which leads to more turnover.
The executive placement firm Challenger, Grey and Christmas reported that the first quarter of 2025 saw 646 CEO exits, a record high in over 20 years of tracking. That’s 4% higher than the 622 CEOs who left in the first quarter of 2024 and up 14% from the 569 CEO exits in the final quarter of 2024.
Thomas from Kantar said another factor that drives leadership changes is the overall lifespan of businesses. In the 1960s, the average Fortune 500 company lasted for around 60 years, but recent studies show that’s now under 20 years. Shifting consumer demands and innovation cycles accelerate company and CEO turnover, Thomas said.
At Kizik, Deere said the CEO search included many qualified candidates, but Hosford stood out because of his balance of corporate and entrepreneurial experience at Nike, Converse and Omorpho. In his prior roles, Hosford has navigated global relationships around wholesale, DTC and licensing that Kizik wants to continue to build out, Deere said.
“When we met him, we could see he quickly grasped our limitless potential for growth, and he naturally articulated the vision and operational steps that will push us forward over the next few years,” Deere said. “He knows what to do.”