Clara Jeon Joins Centric Brands to Build Its First In-House PR and Marketing Division
Clara Jeon has been named senior vice president of public relations, marketing and influence at Centric Brands, a New York-based company that grows fashion labels through ownership, licensing and joint ventures. The role is newly created. Jeon will build an internal PR and marketing division from scratch, leading strategy across the group's luxury, sports and emerging brands portfolio and shaping Centric's external press strategy and reputation. WWD
She reports to Andrew Berg, president of luxury, sports and emerging brands at Centric. The group's portfolio spans owned brands such as Avirex and Robert Graham; joint venture brands including John Elliott, Eastsidie Golf, Favorite Daughter, Jennifer Fisher and Palm Tree Crew; and licensed brands — labels produced under a brand owner's permission — such as Off-White and Hervé Léger. WWD
Jeon arrives from Chapter 2 Agency, the communications and marketing firm she co-founded in 2016. Chapter 2 worked with a wide-ranging client list that included Rhude, Reese Cooper, Pyer Moss, Khiry, Tia Adeola, Fubu, Huf, Puma, Saitex and Everlane. The agency will wind down following her departure, closing a ten-year run that bridged streetwear, luxury and sustainability-focused brands. WWD
The move brings an agency founder's Rolodex — and the creative instincts that come with running an independent shop for a decade — into a corporate structure that has not previously housed its own PR team. Centric has described its business as growing global brands through product categories that build long-term value, whether through ownership, licensing or joint ventures. Centric Brands
For the brands under Centric's umbrella, the shift means marketing and press strategy will now sit inside the same company that manages their production and distribution, rather than being outsourced to external agencies. The hire signals Centric's push to centralise how its portfolio — which runs from heritage sportswear label Avirex to the Virgil Abloh-founded Off-White — presents itself to the press and to consumers.
