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The clotheshorse just left the barn at JCPenney.
Nick Wooster, a flamboyant fashion blogger whose rapid rise under ousted Chief Executive Ron Johnson had baffled the rank and file, has left the company, The Post has learned.
The West Village dandy, feted in fashion circles for his handlebar mustache and arm sleeve tattoos, has been replaced as executive vice president of private brands by Ken Mangone, who held the post before leaving Penney last fall, sources said.
The shuffle echoed Johnson’s surprise replacement as CEO last week by predecessor Mike Ullman, who had been at the helm of Penney for seven years before being pushed out in 2011.
“Another one bites the dust,” one insider said, noting Wooster is the latest casualty of Johnson’s failed bid to revamp Penney into a cutting-edge fashion brand.
Penney didn’t respond to requests for comment.
As first reported by The Post, other Johnson hires who have left include operating chief Mike Kramer, Chief Talent Officer Dan Walker and creative head Mike Fisher.
A former fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman, Wooster was tapped last spring to overhaul men’s clothing. He showed up for his first day at Penney’s Plano, Texas, offices dressed in shorts and a blazer, sources said.
Johnson brushed off concerns about Wooster’s abrupt switch to bright colors and slim fits. By late fall, Wooster was leading Penney’s private-label division.
“He changed his mind constantly and didn’t communicate with anybody except his little circle of favorites,” a source said.
That’s despite Johnson’s repurpose of the annual holiday party for the private-label team into a welcoming party for Wooster.
“The theme was ‘Who’s Wooster?’ and they handed out questionnaires asking things like what his favorite color was,” said one ex-employee. Answer: camouflage.