How the company behind Coach and Kate Spade decides what belongs in its portfolio

The lines between the CFO and COO are increasingly blurring. Scott Roe sits squarely at that intersection at Tapestry, the parent company of Coach and Kate Spade, and (until its recent sale) Stuart Weitzman, overseeing both capital allocation and day-to-day operations. His dual role suggests how Tapestry thinks about strategy: investing in the portfolio and operating the business are part of the same conversation.

That philosophy helps explain why two of Tapestry’s biggest strategic moves, which appeared to point in opposite directions, actually followed the same playbook.

In 2023, Tapestry announced its $8.5 billion bid to acquire Capri Holdings, the owner of Michael Kors, Versace, and Jimmy Choo, in a deal that would have reshaped the accessible luxury landscape. After the FTC blocked the acquisition in late 2024, Tapestry terminated the transaction. Several months later, the company sold Stuart Weitzman, a brand it had owned since 2015.

An expansion followed by a divestiture may look inconsistent. Roe sees both decisions through the same lens: What can Tapestry uniquely bring to an asset that another owner cannot?

The company’s interest in Capri fit neatly within that framework. Michael Kors occupies a similar role in Capri’s portfolio to Coach within Tapestry, creating overlap in leather goods, customer insights, and operating capabilities. By Roe’s measure, the strategic alignment was clear.

Stuart Weitzman presented a different equation. While Roe describes it as a strong brand, premium footwear has never been one of Tapestry’s deepest institutional strengths. If the company could not create differentiated value as an owner, the strategic case weakened.

It reflects a broader shift in corporate strategy. Scale alone is no longer enough. Increasingly, management teams are expected to explain why they are uniquely positioned to own an asset, not simply whether they can.

The same thinking underpins Tapestry’s conviction in Kate Spade, even as Coach continues to outperform and Kate Spade works through a turnaround. Roe views the brand’s softer performance as part of a customer transition. More price-sensitive shoppers are moving away from the brand while younger consumers with higher lifetime value are beginning to replace them. Those shifts rarely happen in a straight line, but his confidence comes from Kate Spade’s position in a large leather goods market where Tapestry has decades of expertise.

Perhaps the more revealing takeaway from my conversation with Roe had nothing to do with brands or acquisitions.

One piece of professional advice Roe wishes he had learned earlier is the importance of building a clear professional brand. Leaders often pride themselves on being low ego, but he argues that many fail to communicate what they stand for and the value they create. When he joined Tapestry, he intentionally defined himself around mergers and acquisitions, international growth, and the development of executive talent.

Such a framework is about making one’s contribution visible, rather than self-promotional, he clarifies, adding that in a corporate world where careers increasingly span multiple companies, reputation is something leaders must build deliberately.

Watch the full video interview here.

Ruth Umoh
ruth.umoh@fortune.com

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com