Despite last year’s restructuring efforts and a fancy new ad campaign with Gisele and Erin Wasson, Esprit’s future looks shaky. The retailer’s CEO, Ronald Van der Vis, resigned yesterday; he was followed today by chairman of the board Hans-Joachim Körber, who also serves as an independent nonexecutive director. All this caused the company’s stocks to plummet 22 percent on the Hong Kong stock exchange, not that they were doing swimmingly beforehand, anyway. Analyst Aaron Fischer gave the company a damning “underperform” rating, according to WWD, since it hasn’t had much success in its big turnaround plan. On a nostalgic note, remember those golden days in the early 2000s when Esprit wedges were all you wanted in life? (We also had a great Esprit handbag that lasted all though high school until its strap broke senior year when we were using it to smuggle a six-pack of beer, which no purse should have to withstand. R.I.P.)
