Smythe names Canada Goose's Ana Mihaljevic chief executive

Smythe has named Ana Mihaljevic chief executive. She is based in Toronto and will partner with cofounders and designers Andrea Lenczner and Christie Smythe, forming an all-female leadership team to build what the company calls the next chapter for the brand.

Mihaljevic comes from Canada Goose, the Canadian outerwear company known for high-performance jackets built for extreme weather, where she spent ten years. She was president of North America for nearly four years, a role that ended in February 2026.

Earlier at Canada Goose she was chief commercial officer and, before that, senior vice president of sales operations and planning. Her career has been on the commercial and operational side of fashion businesses rather than in design.

Before Canada Goose she was director of business planning at Marc Jacobs, the American fashion brand founded by the designer in 1984. She was also director of sales for Jones Signature and Jones New York Jeans at The Jones Group, and held a role at Polo Ralph Lauren.

Ralph Lauren, established in 1967, is an American brand operating mainly in luxury apparel and lifestyle. Mihaljevic's four previous employers span Canadian outerwear, American designer fashion and mass-market denim, a mix of distribution experience that Smythe now takes on.

In the new role Mihaljevic will lead operations and growth strategy. Lenczner and Smythe will continue to lead creative direction and product vision, which the founders say lets them concentrate on the clothes while the three of them build the business around them.

"As Smythe has grown, so has our ambition for what the brand can become," Lenczner and Smythe said in a statement. "Ana brings exceptional experience and a genuine understanding of what makes Smythe distinct." They cited operational excellence and infrastructure for growth.

What Smythe is today

Smythe was founded in 2004 with a focus on tailored blazers. It has since become a broader wardrobe of jackets, coats, dresses, blouses, pants and knitwear, and has gained a following for polished clothing and precise tailoring.

Online is where the growth is described. Annual new customers arriving through Smythe's website rose more than fivefold between 2021 and 2025, and e-commerce itself started in 2017, thirteen years after the label was founded.

Physical retail came later. The first stand-alone Smythe store opened in Toronto in 2022 and a second followed in Calgary in 2024. A further Toronto store is set to open in early 2027, which is the one date the company has given.

Mihaljevic said she wore the label before joining. "I chose to wear Smythe long before I joined the company because it has such a clear and instinctive understanding of how women want to dress and feel in their clothes," she said.

"Working alongside Christie and Andrea, we will build on that foundation, grow Smythe with purpose, reach more women and realize the full potential of a brand," she added. The company gave no revenue figure, growth target or timetable for that ambition.

The founders' history is in Toronto and in retail. Smythe and Lenczner grew up together and both attended McGill University. Before they launched the business in 2004, Smythe worked in design at The Gap and Lenczner was a buyer for Holt Renfrew.

Smythe's key retailers include Neiman Marcus, Revolve and Holt Renfrew, so the label already reaches American and Canadian customers through wholesale as well as its own stores and website.

The line has been worn by Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle, Halle Berry, Gigi Hadid, Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie and Reese Witherspoon, a list that has helped carry the brand's reputation for precise tailoring.

We reported on G-III Apparel Group's chief executive Morris Goldfarb applying lessons from Donna Karan to his newly acquired Marc Jacobs, one of the names on Mihaljevic's own résumé. Her move is to a much smaller, founder-led business.

The early 2027 Toronto opening is the next dated marker for Smythe. The company has not said whether Mihaljevic's remit includes further stores, wholesale partners or the online channel behind the fivefold rise in new customers.

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Image: Smythe