Top Designers Leave New York & Co.

According to sources, Marie Holman-Rao, chief design officer, and Anne-Charlotte Windal, senior vice president and general manager of design, both resigned this week.

The departures compound the challenges confronting the $1 billion specialty chain. Due to inventory buildups and some fashion misses, the company expects to report a second-quarter loss surpassing the year-ago second-quarter loss of $4.8 million. The performance has also been pulling down the stock price, which closed down 6.7 percent Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange to $2.65. Its 52-week high is $6.53.

It won’t be easy to find someone of the caliber of Holman-Rao, who was with New York & Co. for about two years and previously served as president of Limited Design Services, a unit of Limited Brands Inc., and president of Banana Republic.

Last month, another design executive at New York & Co., Sofie Pavitt, left to join the Gap