Who is Howard Smith? Ralph Lauren top exec resigns after 19 years over "personal conduct" allegations

American label Ralph Lauren recently informed its employees that one of its top executives, Howard Smith, had left the company. The executive’s resignation was a consequence of the alleged violations of the business’ code of conduct.

The corporation chose not to disclose the violations of its employee, who served the company for 19 years.

In other news, John Demsey, a top executive of Estee Lauder, was recently terminated in response to his inappropriate Instagram post, which included the N-word.

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Know more about Howard Smith

Howard Smith completed his education at the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, Harvard Business School Executive Education. He also studied at the University of London.

Smith has vast experience in the fashion industry, and in the early years of his career, he worked under Operations Management for Marks and Spencer.

Then, from 1996 to 2001, he worked in London as General Manager of Fashion and Retail for P&O Trans European. Moving on, he joined Selfridges in 2001, as Head of Supply Chain.

In 2003, Howard Smith finally began his years-long journey with Ralph Lauren. He initially joined as VP of Logistics and Operations for Europe.

Over the years, Smith contributed significantly to the company, and in recognition of his efforts, he was made the President of their Asia Pacific operations in 2015.

It was then, in 2019, that Howard was appointed as the Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of the luxury fashion label.

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Steps taken by Ralph Lauren

As per the fashion label's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Smith is being held responsible for personal misconduct. On these grounds, the brand decided to hold an autonomous investigation with the backing of an external counsel.

Howard Smith holds a prominent position in the company. The 50-year-old worked as the executive vice president and chief commercial officer, and his resignation will be effective from April 2, 2022.

The SEC filing states that Smith was at fault as he worked against the company’s code of ethics. Taking all the findings of the inquiry into consideration, the company released a statement saying:

“Mr. Smith’s resignation was necessary.”

As reported by The New York Post, Ralph Lauren’s chairman and CEO Patrice Louvet wrote a memo to his employees informing them about Smith’s withdrawal.