Interesting that she was ousted so quickly but I agree with Le Pedestrienne, she didn't seem like a fit. I get their catalogs and the recent ones have tried to get into "storytelling" where they tell little vignettes about the women wearing the clothes. It was seriously weird, distracting, and somewhat offensive. This situation reminded me of Talbots, another classic/prep clothing brand with HQ in my home state, which tried to upscale/modernize their look over a period of several years, and had to go through multiple rounds of refinancing, buyouts and changes in designers before they recovered from it.
These more traditional companies seem to get in real trouble when they branch out from what their customers know and love. I guess they are just trying to evolve as the fashion world changes, but it often doesn't work.
It's also an interesting example of how a CEO from a different culture (Italy) may stumble due to not understanding the complexities of culture they are moving to (USA) ...specifically referring to the Gloria Steinem profile.
