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 also started it for reasons closer to home. I wanted to prove that genuinely senior expertise doesn't have to come packaged in a traditional full-time structure - and that building something on your own terms is a strength, not a compromise. For the brands I work with, that means a leader who is fully invested without the permanent overhead. For me, it means doing the best work of my career on my own terms.
I work embedded inside fashion businesses as a fractional executive - delivering ownership, commercial clarity and the leadership structure that growth actually requires.
Senior expertise, embedded where it matters - in the business and in life.
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 and product reset. This included rebuilding the range architecture, establishing new assortment principles, leading fit and block standards review and critical path restructure across the full product creation process. The result was a complete profit turnaround, improved sell-through, and a reduction in inventory and markdown spend.
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 overseeing a strategic overhaul of the brand mix, including new brand acquisition and the realignment of existing brands to better reflect the platform's customer. The result was a range that worked harder commercially because it was built around who was actually shopping it - delivering profit growth across two consecutive years.
Glue Store · David Jones · Burberry | 2005 – 2017
The foundations were built earlier - at Burberry, where I started my career, then at David Jones where I progressed from order clerk to Buyer, building the foundations from the ground up. It was here that my range disciplines and merchandising strategies really took shape - developing assortment plans, negotiating with brands and building the commercial buying practices that have underpinned everything since. At Glue Store, my first senior buying role is where it all came together - becoming the only buyer in the business to meet all financial KPIs, delivering strong sales and profit growth through structured range thinking and full ownership of the category.
How We Work
Building capability, not dependency.
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.
Embedded, not external.
I work inside your business, not around it. That means understanding your team, your systems and your challenges before offering a solution.
Commercial first, always.
Every range, every decision, every recommendation is anchored in commercial reality - margin, sell-through, OTB and the customer. Not theory.
Customer at the centre of every decision.
Every range decision should be anchored in who is actually buying - not trend, not gut feel. That's what turns a good range into a profitable one.
Let’s Chat
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.
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