Dani Reiss

Dani Reiss (Born November 7, 1973) is a Canadian entrepreneur, best known for his role as president & CEO of Canadian Arctic luxury apparel company, Canada Goose Inc.

Background and Early Life

Reiss is the grandson of Sam Tick, founder of Canada Goose (established as Metro Sportswear Ltd. in 1957), and the son of David Reiss, who served as the company’s CEO from the mid-1970s to 2001.

After earning his Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from the University of Toronto in 1996, Reiss decided to join the family business (then known as Snow Goose) for a few months to make some money to travel. He dreamed of being a writer, and had no intention of staying in the business.^[1][2] However, after attending a tradeshow in Germany where he tested out the Canada Goose brand (in Europe, products were branded as Canada Goose because Snow Goose was already a registered name), his passion for the business was ignited by the realization that Canada Goose was a real brand with real meaning to consumers.^[3]

Reiss spent his time learning the business by working in every area of the company’s factory and travelling with the company's sales managers on visits to apparel buyers in Europe. Reiss came to recognize that European customers associated the product with idealized images of Canadian wilderness, which would eventually encourage him to change the company's name from Snow Goose to Canada Goose.^[1][4]

Canada Goose / Made in Canada

In 2001, at the age of 27, Reiss became president and CEO of Canada Goose. Reiss ignited the company with two key decisions - to produce only under the name Canada Goose and to remain "Made in Canada", when a number of others in the North American apparel industry moved their manufacturing to Asia to increase profit margins.^[5] The result was a significant loss to the Canadian apparel-manufacturing infrastructure. To continue manufacturing product in Canada, Reiss had to invest his own capital into the Canada Goose factory.

Under Reiss’s leadership, Canada Goose has become known as a “Made in Canada” champion. He believes that an authentic “Made in Canada” product could be sustainable if the company adhered to a best-quality philosophy and a strict distribution model that always ensured greater demand than supply. In Reiss's opinion, to remain an authentic brand, Canada Goose parkas had to be manufactured in Canada.^[6]

Since the early 2000s, Canada Goose has expanded internationally and, in 2014 opened a U.S. office and showroom in New York City.^[7] Over the past decade, Canada Goose has enjoyed tremendous success under Reiss’s leadership, posting more than 2,000% growth.^[8] Canada Goose products are now available in more than 50 countries worldwide.^[4]

Philanthropy

Dani Reiss serves as the chairman of the board for Polar Bears International (PBI), a non-profit organization dedicated to the worldwide conservation of the polar bear habitat.^[9] Canada Goose created a custom line of PBI products in which $25 from jacket sales are donated to the organization.

Reiss and his team established Canada Goose Resource Centres in eight locations in Northern Canada, along with partners First Air and the North West Company. These pop-up Resource Centres give traditional Inuit sewers access to high-quality fabrics, buttons, zippers and other materials free of charge for use in hand-made jackets and clothing for members of these cold-climate communities. This allows them to continue in their traditional ways of sewing for their community with materials and fabrications they typically would not have access to or could not afford.^[10]

Industry Involvement/ Entrepreneurship

Reiss sits on the Board of Director's of Mount Sinai Hospital Foundation and is a member of the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO).^[11]

Reiss is a regular speaker on the topic of success, “Made in Canada” and authentic brand building, and is often quoted by press on the challenges of domestic manufacturing and global expansion. He has recently addressed the Canadian Club of Ottawa, Economic Club of Canada, lectured at the Schulich Business School’s International MBA Program, The Richard Ivey School of Business and Queen's School of Business. Reiss has also spoken to students at TedX Youth Toronto, and delivered the keynote address at the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation conference.^[12][13]

Awards and Achievements

Reiss has been awarded for his entrepreneurial success numerous times.

In 2008, he was the recipient of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40.^[14]

In November 2011, Reiss was awarded the Ernst & Young National Entrepreneur of the Year Award. In its 18th year in Canada, the Ernst & Young award winner was selected based on several factors including vision, leadership, financial performance and social responsibility. As the Canadian champion, Reiss was admitted into the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Hall of Fame, along with 50 fellow country winners from around the globe at a ceremony in Monaco in June 2012.^[15][16]

Reiss was also presented with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by Minister Joe Oliver in May 2012, and in 2013, the Canadian Marketing Association named Reiss marketer of the year.^[17]

In 2016, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada for "building an iconic brand that is a model of entrepreneurial success and for his commitment to the preservation of Canada's North, notably as chair of Polar Bears International." ^[18]

References