Lesley-Anne Dean
The Cotton On business, a leading fashion retailer spanning multiple fashion and lifestyle brands, is proud to announce the appointment of Lesley-Anne Dean as the new country manager for South Africa, effective immediately. With more than 20 years of retail leadership experience, Dean steps into the role at a pivotal time, as the organisation celebrates its strongest performance in history and continues its commitment to people, purpose and innovation.
Promoted from within the Cotton On business, Dean is a homegrown, seasoned executive who embodies the culture, values and momentum of the brand. Her experience in retail leadership includes senior roles across Clicks, Nike, Superbalist.com and The Foschini Group, where she built high-performing teams, drove significant growth and embedded purpose into the business journey.
Together with her team, Dean is poised to lead the organisation into an exciting new era of growth and impact. With over 135 stores across five beloved brands and a booming e-commerce platform in South Africa, the company is more connected than ever to local customers.
Dean’s appointment also marks an important step in Cotton On’s ongoing mission to build a better future through its people and platform, as these are areas that she is particularly passionate about. Locally, the Cotton On Foundation supports literacy development and school transformation projects in under-resourced communities, the group has invested over R100m in South Africa alone, while globally, foundation has impacted over 200,000 young lives through education and health initiatives.
“This is an exciting time for us, not just in terms of business performance, but in the way we’re showing up for our people, our communities, and our customers,” says Dean. “We have an opportunity to set the tone for the future of retail in our country: inclusive, purpose-led and powered by an incredible generation of young South Africans. That’s what excites me most about my new role.”
“Lesley-Anne’s enthusiasm for people, her belief in the power of purpose-led business, and her deep connection to the South African retail landscape made her the clear choice to lead Cotton On South Africa into its next chapter,” says Michael Hardwick, Cotton On group chief financial officer. “Her leadership is rooted in strategic clarity, deep people insight, and a sharp understanding of customer needs, a combination that reflects Cotton On’s ability to scale bold ideas while staying grounded in what matters most,” he added.
For more information about Cotton On and its products, visit https://cottonon.com/ZA/ or follow the organisation on social media: https://www.instagram.com/cottonon_africa/.
