AllSaints names ASOS veteran as new CFO following record year of profit

AllSaints has appointed Sean Trend, formerly of ASOS, as its new Chief Financial Officer, marking the latest in a series of strategic leadership moves for the East London-based fashion brand. Trend will take up the role in February 2026, succeeding Elaine Deste, who is retiring after nearly six years at the company.

Trend joins from ASOS plc, where he has spent the past eight years in a range of senior roles, including Director of Finance, SVP Strategy & Insights, SVP North America, and Managing Director for the UK & US. Prior to ASOS, he served as Group Financial Controller at Cancer Research UK, began his career in Audit & Advisory at Deloitte, and qualified as a chartered accountant with the ICAEW in 2012.

The appointment comes as AllSaints continues to build on a period of record profitability, despite a small dip in revenues. For the year ending 1 February 2025, the group’s EBITDA rose 1% to £69.5 million, marking a new record, while profit before tax surged 55% to £28.2 million and profit after tax nearly doubled to £18.9 million.

The performance underscores the success of AllSaints’ long-running turnaround under CEO Peter Wood, who has steadily repositioned the brand around full-price sales, tighter inventory management and new category expansion, including childrenswear, tailoring, fragrance and eyewear.

Peter Wood, CEO of AllSaints, said: "I am delighted to welcome Sean to our senior leadership team as our CFO. He has a fantastic mix of hugely relevant financial, operational and management experience, much of it in the fashion sector and also across the key regions in which we operate.

"I am confident that he will fit in brilliantly in our Group and play an integral role in helping us to achieve our exciting long-term growth plans."

Wood also paid tribute to outgoing CFO Elaine Deste, who joined AllSaints in early 2020. He added: "Elaine has made an enormous contribution since she joined us, and her rigour, professionalism and dedication will all be missed. I would like to thank her sincerely on behalf of everyone here, and to wish her every happiness for her retirement."

Trend’s appointment follows the arrival of Aaron Esh as Chief Creative Officer earlier this month. The Central Saint Martins–trained designer, who launched his own label in 2022, brings a modern, East London sensibility that feels naturally aligned with AllSaints’ grungy heritage.

With Esh now leading the brand’s creative direction and Trend soon to steer its financial strategy, AllSaints appears poised for its next phase of growth.