On held in Asia-Pacific, the regional president will be replaced; China’s growth contributor is promoted to Global Markets Head.

Onitsuka’s rapidly growing Asia-Pacific business is about to see a management handover.

Recently, the Swiss sportswear brand Onitsuka announced that its current Asia-Pacific General Manager, Rebecca Cai, will be promoted on September 1 to Chief Global Markets Officer. In her new role, she will be responsible for market development across three major regions—Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Americas—and will lead the company’s global commercial team.

Onitsuka has also newly established the position of Chief Customer Officer. Alice Delahunt, who previously worked at Ralph Lauren and Burberry, will join the company on September 7, responsible for digital business, offline retail, and customer loyalty systems.

Both appointments point to two key priorities for Onitsuka’s next phase: strengthening global regional collaboration, and increasing the importance of DTC (direct-to-consumer) and consumer operations.

For the China market in particular, Rebecca Cai’s promotion is especially worth noting.

Onitsuka said that during her six years with the company, the scale of the Asia-Pacific business has grown to six times its original size. Before finding a successor, she will continue to lead the Asia-Pacific team, and plans to relocate from the Shanghai headquarters to the Zurich headquarters in 2027.

China is an important growth pillar for the Asia-Pacific business.

In 2025, Onitsuka’s Asia-Pacific revenue grew 96.4% year over year to 511 million Swiss francs.

In Q1 2026, Asia-Pacific revenue reached 174 million Swiss francs, up 44.4% year over year, accounting for more than 20% of the group’s total revenue. In its financial report, the company noted that the China and South Korea markets performed especially well.

During Rebecca Cai’s tenure, Onitsuka went through a process of gradually entering the mainstream premium sports consumption market from what was once a relatively niche professional running-shoe brand. The brand not only established a professional image through running communities, athletes, and events, but also accelerated its entry into core commercial districts, expanding its directly operated stores in cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Chengdu.

Directly operated stores not only serve a sales function, but also provide a complete showcase of products, space, and the brand experience—supporting Onitsuka’s premium pricing.

However, after the brand broke through into the mainstream and rapidly opened more stores, what Onitsuka China needs to address in its next stage is no longer just making more consumers aware of the brand. Instead, it needs to improve store efficiency, expand sales of non-shoe products, and convert one-time purchasers into long-term customers.

This is also the backdrop for Onitsuka strengthening DTC and customer operations. In 2025, the company’s DTC channel revenue grew 33.7% year over year to 1.261 billion Swiss francs, outpacing the wholesale channel. By the end of the year, the company’s global directly operated stores had nearly reached 70.

Meanwhile, Onitsuka is expanding from a running-shoe brand into a full-category sportswear brand. In 2025, the company’s apparel revenue grew 68.2%, clearly faster than shoes’ 27.5% growth rate.

Compared with running shoes, apparel relies more on outfit styling and merchandising displays, cross-category sales, and continual new product launches. As a result, it places greater demands on the capabilities of directly operated retail, membership programs, and customer operations.

Rebecca Cai’s promotion to a global management role indicates that her operational experience in the Asia-Pacific market is being integrated into Onitsuka’s global system. The establishment of the Chief Customer Officer position also means the company is starting to place directly operated retail and customer relationships in a more central position.

For Onitsuka China, replacing regional leadership is only a superficial change. The deeper test is whether, after rapid expansion, the company can shift from a growth market to a mature market that continues to deliver scale, profits, and brand influence.

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