Timo Karanko

Speaker 2026

Global Apparel Leader

He rebuilds product engines and product strategies so apparel businesses stop leaking profit and start winning consumers back. He partners with apparel and lifestyle companies to refocus strategy, rebuild product and merchandising processes, and reconnect product with consumer demand, turning complexity and noise into sustained growth.

With more than two decades of leadership experience at C&A, Tommy Hilfiger, and Hop Lun, he has scaled omnichannel businesses exceeding €650 million in revenue across 21 countries. His work consistently delivers durable turnarounds and long-term growth by sharpening strategy, improving product flow, and building high-performance teams that know how to win in competitive markets.

He has led major transformations across global organizations, including executing a full business restructure at Tokmanni that delivered 22 percent above-market growth and a 2.5 percentage point increase in profitability. At Hop Lun, he exceeded ambitious revenue targets by 47 percent after rebuilding the global brand and product strategy. At Tommy Hilfiger, he dramatically improved speed and relevance by cutting time-to-market from 52 weeks to 16 weeks. Earlier, at Mexx, he reduced inventory by 35 percent by redesigning merchandising flow, freeing up capital and strengthening profitability. At C&A, he operated at true C-suite scale, managing a €650 million P&L and leading a 63-person leadership team across 1,500 stores in 21 countries.

He combines consumer-first product strategy with rigorous commercial discipline, balancing Scandinavian diplomacy when alignment matters with decisive speed when results are required. From board-level strategy to range planning, he connects vision to execution and ensures strategy translates into measurable performance.

He is available globally for senior interim, fractional, or permanent mandates where product, merchandising, or brand performance needs to be rebuilt, with a focus on Chief Product Officer, Chief Merchandising Officer, Commercial Director, and General Management roles in global apparel and lifestyle businesses.

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