On January 15, 2026, Gap Inc. created the Chief Entertainment Officer role and gave it to former Paramount President and CEO of International Markets Pam Kaufman. Four months later it hired another Paramount alum, Lourdes Arocho, as SVP and Head of Licensing.
Saint Laurent, LVMH and Kering are doing the same thing, at very different scales. On January 15, 2026 , Gap Inc. announced it had created an entirely new C-suite role, Executive Vice President, Chief Entertainment Officer, and handed it to Pam Kaufman ,
the former President and CEO of International Markets, Global Consumer Products and Experiences at Paramount , where she ran a multi-billion-dollar organisation spanning media, gaming, hospitality, licensing, retail and live experiences across more than 170 markets .
Kaufman started February 2, 2026 , and reports directly to Gap Inc. President and CEO Richard Dickson . Then, in May 2026 , Gap did it again, hiring another Paramount alum, Lourdes Arocho , as Senior Vice President, Head of Licensing , per Adweek's executive moves column .
To house the operation, Gap is opening an LA office on Sunset Boulevard this spring. Inside the new function, internally branded " Fashiontainment ", Kaufman will scale Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Athleta partnerships across music, TV, film, sports, gaming, consumer products and cultural collaborations.
This is not a marketing initiative. It is a structural bet that fashion brands now compete with entertainment companies for cultural share of voice, and that the org chart needs to be redrawn accordingly. Gap Inc…
