Outdoor Research Promotes Three Team Members To New Senior Leadership Positions

Internal promotions in Design, Innovation, Sustainability and Marketing to help OR continue to expand its consumer reach.

Capping a year of strong growth in 2022, Outdoor Research (OR), the Seattle-based manufacturer of leading outdoor apparel and gear, promoted three of its department leaders to new leadership positions. The three promotions help create the structure to continue expanding the OR brand’s reach amongst consumers.

Katarzyna Schoewe was promoted to Vice President Design and Product Innovation, Chris King to Vice President Brand Creative, and Alex Lauver to Senior Director Materials Innovation and Sustainability.

In her previous role as OR’s Senior Creative Design Director, Schoewe led the design team, architected the growth of the company’s product collections, and worked to elevate the brand’s design aesthetic. She also was heavily involved in the effort to bring OR’s inclusive product line to market. In her new post as Vice President Product Design, Schoewe will help create a roadmap for commercial product creation at OR, and assess material combinations and construction methods. She will also be a member of OR’s executive team. Prior to Outdoor Research, Schoewe held design team roles with Under Armour, Pearl Izumi, L.L. Bean and Lands End.

King will move into his new job as the Vice President Brand Creative from his current role as OR’s Senior Director of Brand Creative. He will help Outdoor Research reach a wider range of consumers, and elevate its content across different marketing channels. In his previous role King focused on brand content creation. He will now assume an elevated role around brand and creative strategy. Before Outdoor Research, King was the Creative Director at Bamboo, a Seattle-based advertising agency. He also led the content team at Rover.com, and owned and ran his own production company catering to the outdoor and travel industries for a decade.

Lauver moves to his new post as Senior Director of Materials Innovation and Sustainability from his current role as Director of Commercial Innovation. Along with bringing new material innovations to market in Outdoor Research products, Lauver’s new job title reflects his and the brand’s elevated focus on sustainability, which has been increasingly important at OR over recent years and will continue to be a major focus looking forward. Lauver has also worked in product development at Outdoor Research, and — before that — in product development at Eastern Mountain Sports, Eddie Bauer and Cabelas.