EXCLUSIVE: Bloomingdale’s Names David Thielebeule Men’s Fashion Director

Bloomingdale’s has found its next men’s fashion director.

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David Thielebeule, an editor and stylist with more than 15 years of experience, has joined the department store to oversee men’s fashion.

Most recently, Thielebeule served as the founding editor in chief of Grazia USA, the American edition of Grazia, a publication within the Mondadori Group, Italy’s largest publishing house. Prior to that, he spent eight years with the Wall Street Journal Magazine as style director where he worked on both men’s and women’s fashion. Prior to that, he was a senior editor at Harper’s Bazaar. He started his career in fashion as an assistant buyer at Saks Fifth Avenue before transitioning into editorial at GQ. He is based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

He will report to Kevin Harter, group vice president of integrated marketing for Bloomingdale’s who was once the men’s fashion director for the store.

“We were looking for someone with true editorial expertise to bring authority to the store, discover new brands and build relationships with existing vendors,” Harter said.

While many stores have moved away from having fashion directors, it remains a critical position for Bloomingdale’s. But the role is different today than it was in the past.

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“All the department stores have realigned their offices rather than eliminate them,” Harter said. “The fashion director position continues to evolve and has become more of an editorial position based on the importance of storytelling.”

At Bloomingdale’s, Thielebeule will “be out in the market, covering the shows for us and amplifying our storytelling,” Harter said.

Thielebeule succeeds Justin Berkowitz who left his role as Bloomingdale’s men’s fashion director in May to join NN.07 as a strategic partner and to oversee the opening of its first flagship in the U.S. market on Lafayette Street.

Berkowitz had been senior fashion market editor with Details magazine before joining the department store eight years ago.

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