Yigal Azrouël Appoints New President Christopher Candland

(NEW YORK) Yigal Azrouël has a new right hand man. The designer has tapped industry vet Christopher Candland to fill a new role as president of the company. Previously, Candland served as vice president of finance and operations in the U.S. for Sandro, Maje, and Claudie Pierlot. Before that, Candland spent 10 months as chief operating officer for Cynthia O’Connor + Company, where he oversaw 30 brands at the showroom, such as Botkier and Foley + Corinna. From 2004 to 2010, Candland served as the global finance manager at Diane von Furstenberg. Candland will be taking over some of the responsibilities of Yigal’s longtime CEO Donata Minelli Yirmiyahu, who had been with the company for over 14 years, but left in January to pursue a career as a consultant. According to Business Of Fashion, Minelli helped grow the brand from a line of jersey pieces into a full collection, developing strategic partnerships with Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus along the way. She was also responsible for co-founding the brand’s (relatively) gently-priced line, Cut25. While the appointment of Candland was just announced, Candland has already been rolling up his sleeves in his new role for two months, according to his LinkedIn.