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Ken Pucker

Senior Lecturer at The Fletcher School at Tufts University

Ken Pucker is an experienced leader known for his commitment to achieving results in values-based environments. He possesses expertise in leadership, storytelling, strategy, sustainability, turnarounds, consumer products, and operations management.

Ken Pucker holds a Master of Science in Management from the MIT Sloan School of Management and completed his Bachelor of Arts in Economics & History at Middlebury College.

He is currently serving as a Senior Lecturer at The Fletcher School at Tufts University. Ken has also been actively involved in various organizations, including serving as a Former Board Member at rag & bone, the Governance Committee at the Commonwealth School, Green City Force, and High Meadows Institute. He has also held roles at Boston University Questrom School of Business, Berkshire Partners, Nexite, Timbuk2, Timberland, The Brookings Institution, and Goldman Sachs in the past.

Highlights

Sep 6 · linkedin

A long story in The Atlantic titled: THE MYSTERIOUS, METEORIC RISE OF SHEIN, A murky founding story, a shadowy CEO, and a staggering takeover of American retail....just released based on a year of research.

Much of the story will be known to followers of the company...yet a number of new details focus on the shadiness and opacity surrounding the behemoth.

Following are a few noteworthy mentions:

👚By November 2022, the company accounted for 50 percent of U.S. fast-fashion sales, up from 12 percent in January 2020.  👗Ken Pucker, a former executive at Timberland who is now a fast-fashion critic, has warned of the possible “Sheinification” of the industry—more and more brands replicating Shein’s immense production churn. That process is well under way.  👠 Shein once claimed, improbably, that it had been started by “a small group of passionate, fashion loving individuals in North Brunswick, New Jersey.” 🧥The company recently hired several executives and lobbyists (including a former Biden-administration Treasury Department official, a longtime The Home Depot lobbyist, and a former chief of staff to Senator Marco Rubio, who himself regularly blasts the company) to advance its interests and defend its image in the United States.  👡 Regardless of what happens in America to his company, Xu—whoever he is, exactly—has succeeded in demonstrating that a Chinese-founded company selling questionably sourced clothes can thrive in the United States. And he’s done so because of American capital, American trade regulations, and, perhaps most crucial, the perpetually unsated American consumer.

The article also notes that closing the de minimus loophole is not imminent. Lawmakers, trade associations (who are now accepting SHEIN's dues) and competitors ought to wake to the social and environmental costs externalized to enrich venture capitalists and the faceless founders of SHEIN.

Recently the current administration quadroupled tariffs on Chinese EVs to 100%...and yet no plans are in place to police instant fashion?

Make sense?

Leslie Johnston, M.Sc. @Devon Rufo Mads Oscar Haumann Randi Marshall Maxine Bédat Matt Powell Joel Makower Evan Wiener Noel Kinder Rachel Arthur Livia Giuggioli Firth Deanna Bratter Faith Robinson Zofia Zwieglinska Sarah Kent John Andreliunas Katrin Ley Kim van der Weerd Amanda Mull Devon Rufo Saqib Sohail Dr. Vidhura Ralapanawe Tricia Carey Samantha Taylor

https://lnkd.in/ePdE86iU

Aug 28 · linkedin

Can #fastfashion = #sustainable.

According to Dutch investor ASN Impact Investors (part of de Volksbank), after years of #engagement, the answer is no. After years of engagement on the issue of a living wage and establishing criteria to guide their investment in fashion (e.g. wrt durability, recyclability, and circularity), ASN sold their holdings in Nike and adidas. More recently, they shed the equities of 12 fashion companies including ASOS.com, H&M, Inditex, Hanesbrands Inc.…and others.

San Lie, a Director at ASN noted: “due to the rise of ultra fast fashion firms the impact on natural resources and #fossilfuel resources for #polyester only increases. Hence, we can only conclude that the #environmental side is under increasing pressure.”

He continued, “You see marketing communications from fast fashion companies saying ‘we’re doing this and we’re doing that’ on #recycling and #circularity, but, they tend to be little projects on the side and do not compare to their total garment output and waste. I’m not sure if these efforts are genuine and these initiatives just need to be scaled, or its greenwashing.”

Perhaps I can help.

👚The answer: Pilot projects make for good Sustainability Report content. Little else. 💰#Divestment is a signal. But, won’t impact company stock prices until > 90% of investors eschew a stock. 🎯ASN also divested of VF Corporation and PUMA Group in their sweep of 12 fashion companies. This is puzzling given these companies efforts to authentically address their impacts.

Maybe pressure is mounting for action.

https://lnkd.in/eEeGjrAC

Tariq Fancy Evan Wiener Devon Rufo Tricia Carey Katy O'Brien Maxine Bédat Katrin Ley Matt Powell Brett Mathews Allen Zelden Anne-Laure Descours Sean Cady Joel Makower Dominique Chantale Alepin Noel Kinder Mads Oscar Haumann Sydney Badger Meredith Spivey Lipnick Zofia Zwieglinska Rachel Cernansky Danae Motta eva karlsson Leslie Johnston, M.Sc. Kim van der Weerd Saqib Sohail Dr. Vidhura Ralapanawe

Ken Pucker
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Location

West Newton, Massachusetts