KMD Brands, owner of Kathmandu and Rip Curl, has appointed Zion Armstrong as a non-executive director.
Armstrong has over three decades of experience in the global sportswear industry, including 24 years at Adidas.
He stepped down as North America president in early 2022 to return to New Zealand.
Armstrong commenced his career with Adidas in New Zealand as footwear product manager in 1998 before moving to the headquarters in Germany in 2002.
From 2005 to 2014, he held various leadership roles in Asia-Pacific including president and managing director for Adidas Group South Korea.
Since 2015, he served as GM of North America and in 2018 was promoted to president.
KMD Brands chairman David Kirk welcomed him to the board.
“We are thrilled that Zion has agreed to join the board of KMD Brands. He brings extensive background and capability in global branded sports apparel and footwear.
"His experience and proven capability in global brand management, product development and multi-channel distribution is a perfect fit for the next stage of growth for KMD Brands.
"North America and Asia are important long term growth markets for our brands and Zion’s experience in these markets will be invaluable as we move forward on our strategic pillar of building global brands”.
As required by the company's constitution and the NZX Listing Rules, Armstrong will hold office until the annual shareholders’ meeting of the Company following the effective date of his appointment, at which time he will resign and stand for election.
Armstrong has agreed to join the company as a non-executive director effective December 1.