Two decades in fashion retail.
One very clear perspective.
Senior commercial leadership, embedded where it matters most.
Why We Exist
There’s a stage every growing fashion brand hits where gut instinct stops being enough. Range decisions get harder and margin gets tighter. The team needs direction it doesn’t yet have.
The brands that navigate that moment will have one thing in common: experienced commercial leadership embedded in the business at the critical time. Not advisory. Not arm’s length consulting. Someone in the room who has done it before and knows where the risk sits.
That’s what The Exec Bench was built to provide.
A note from the founder
I’ve spent 20 years leading product, buying and merchandising at some of Australia’s most recognised fashion businesses - and I’ve watched the pattern described above play out more times than I can count.
The businesses that struggled often didn’t lack ambition or talent. They lacked structure, oversight and the kind of disciplined decision-making that only comes from having done it before.
I built The Exec Bench to solve exactly that. I work embedded inside fashion businesses as a fractional executive - delivering ownership, commercial clarity and the leadership structure that growth actually requires.
Executive leadership, delivered differently.
Vanessa Tripolone
Founder
The Experience Behind The Work
Sheike | 2023 – 2026
My most recent role is the clearest example of what I do and why I built The Exec Bench. At Sheike, as Head of Product and a member of the Executive Team, I was brought in to restructure a business that needed more than managing - it needed a full commercial reset. New process, new assortment principles, new range building frameworks. The result was a significant profit turnaround and meaningful inventory reduction.
The Iconic | 2017– 2023
Before Sheike, six years at The Iconic shaped how I think about commercial leadership at scale. Progressing from Senior Buyer to Head of Women’s Mainstream, I led the full buying and planning function across a market-leading multi-brand business - building and leading a large team, defining category strategy and brand architecture, and delivering strong profitable growth year on year.
Glue Store · David Jones · Burberry | 2005 – 2017
The foundations were built earlier - at David Jones, where I progressed from admin to Buyer learning the craft from the ground up, and at Glue Store, where my first senior buying role taught me what structured range thinking could deliver with full ownership of a category.
How We Work
Every range, every decision, every recommendation is anchored in commercial reality - margin, sell-through, OTB and the customer. Not theory.
I work inside your business, not around it. That means understanding your team, your systems and your challenges before offering a solution.
The goal is always to leave your team stronger than I found it - with better frameworks, clearer process and the commercial confidence to keep delivering.
I would love to hear about your business needs and how I can help.
Reach out for a no commitment, free 15 minute discovery call.
Let’s Chat
Book a free 15-min call