Member Spotlight – Alexandra Wilkis Wilson

Posted on February 10, 2011, in Momorandums, with 0 Comments

It’s our first Member Spotlight of 2011, for which we are thrilled to introduce you to a very fabulous Executive Mom: Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, the Founder of Gilt Groupe (and therefore the chief instigator of women rushing to their PCs or iPads at noon, lest they miss the latest flash sale). Here’s more about her:

Quick Career Description:

I am the Founder and Chief Merchandising Officer of Gilt Groupe (Gilt Groupe is the invitation-only luxury online shopping site that pioneered the concept of offering a curated selection of designer merchandise at up to 70% off, for a very time-limited period, i.e. 36 hours)

The More-Than-One-Line Career Description:

In November 2007, I co-founded Gilt Groupe. We never anticipated our business, inspired by a love of sample sale shopping for designer fashion, would grow as quickly as it has in just the past few years. We have expanded Gilt Groupe into a number of categories beyond women’s fashion and have created a lifestyle brand selling covetable goods also in men’s and kids fashion, home décor, beauty, travel and lifestyle services. We expanded our business to Japan. Prior to founding Gilt, I worked for Bulgari in charge of US Retail Operations and prior to that I worked for Louis Vuitton, managing forecasting of the leather goods business for the US (a $700M business at the time). I love to study and went to Harvard (twice), first as an undergraduate and then getting my MBA. In between those stints I worked for three years in investment banking at Merrill Lynch. I am active in a number of non-profits and am an avid supporter of women and education.