
Before he was a CMO, Bill Miller learned retail from the window inward. Now he is helping three familiar brands find new reasons to matter, one customer moment at a time.
Heather Salvatore Gruccio is Executive Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer for Ann Taylor and Ann Taylor Factory, the KnitWell Group brands headquartered at 7 Times Square in New York. A Wake Forest communications graduate, she built her merchandising career over nine years at Coach, sharpened it in mid-luxury at Tory Burch, and joined Ann Taylor in 2016 as Senior Director of Merchandising for non-apparel. She moved up to Vice President of Merchandising in 2017, SVP and GMM in 2020, and was elevated to EVP and Chief Merchandising Officer in 2025 after leading a product-and-perception reset that turned a 70-year-old mall brand into a name fashion press started writing about again. Her thesis is unfussy: women still want to look pulled together, they just want to be comfortable while doing it, and heritage is an asset rather than a liability if you actually know how to cut a jacket.
KnitWell Group is one of the largest specialty apparel companies in the United States, a multi-brand operating company that unites eight iconic American women's fashion brands - Ann Taylor, LOFT, Talbots, Chico's, White House Black Market, Soma, Lane Bryant and Haven Well Within - under a single shared-services platform. Formed in 2023 by private equity firm Sycamore Partners and led by Executive Chair and CEO Lizanne Kindler, the company generates roughly $6 billion in annual sales, operates close to 3,000 retail stores, employs about 45,000 associates and serves more than 20 million loyal customers nationwide.
Sabrina Cherubini is the Chief Marketing Officer of FULLBEAUTY Brands, the plus-size and big-and-tall apparel group behind names like Catherines, ellos, Swimsuits for All, Jessica London and Brylane Home. A French-born marketer who began at Leo Burnett and Havas in Europe, she has spent two decades moving between advertising agencies, startups and Fortune 500 retailers including Kmart, Sears, Ann Taylor and Loft. Before FULLBEAUTY she spent nearly four years at lingerie brand Hanky Panky, where she helped grow the direct-to-consumer share of revenue from under 20% to roughly half. She is a Women in Retail Leadership Circle member, a nonprofit board member, and an advocate for women's leadership communities.