Good morning, Broadsheet readers! A new study finds that caregiving can increase the severity of menopause symptoms, Saudi Arabia is strengthening its women's soccer league, and Tapestry's chief didn't see herself as a CEO—until she redefined the job. Have a wonderful Monday!
- New definition. Joanne Crevoiserat never saw herself as a CEO. “I’m not sure I’m the CEO type,” she recalls saying when, while serving as Abercrombie & Fitch's CFO and then COO, she was asked why she didn't throw her hat in the ring for the retailer's open chief executive job.
Today, Crevoiserat is the CEO of Tapestry, the company behind Coach and Kate Spade. Under her watch, Tapestry announced in August an $8.5 billion plan to acquire Capri Holdings, the parent of Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo. The deal would double Tapestry's revenue to $12 billion and is the largest fashion industry merger since the mid-2000s.
So how did Crevoiserat go from publicity-shy C-suite exec to a CEO architecting an undeniably bold deal? She redefined her definition of "CEO," she tells Fortune senior writer Phil Wahba in a new feature story.
Crevoiserat came up as a finance exec, working at Walmart and Kohl's before Tapestry. She thought of CEOs as "larger than life" and didn't see herself that way. Rather than change who she was, she changed her perception of the top job.
Crevoiserat is still not the loudest CEO in the room. She shies away from the flashy, even skipping flagship brand Coach's star-studded fashion show last month in favor of nosebleed seats at the U.S. Open. She sees her version of CEO not as a wallflower, but a "behind-the-scenes player who provides direction and cohesion and comes up with the strategy around which the company will coalesce," Phil writes. That job description especially applies to a portfolio company like Tapestry, where other leaders and creatives are the faces of individual brands.
Tapestry will need that steadying force as it seeks to pull off the integration of Capri, which analysts have said comes with a major "execution risk." Capri is in need of a turnaround, and its addition will make Tapestry a much more complex business.
Read more about what lies ahead for Crevoiserat and Tapestry in Phil's feature.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
@_emmahinchliffe
The Broadsheet is Fortune's newsletter for and about the world's most powerful women. Today's edition was curated by Joseph Abrams. Subscribe here.
