-
Design Director Consultant & Artist - Contract
Brooklyn, NY
Jul 2020 - Present (2 years 7 months)
Project based consultant focused on accessories direction for the women’s and men’s fashion markets, fashion illustration, branding, & the graphic arts.
CLIENTS:
KATE SPADE / Design Consultant for Women’s Handbags
NEW YORK, NY
MACY’S / Design Consultant for Women’s Handbags
NEW YORK, NY
LUCKY BRANDS / Design Consultant for Women’s Handbags
NEW YORK, NY
FLYWHEEL BRANDS / Design Director Contract
HIXON, TN
OUR TEMENOS / Illustrator & Graphic Designer - Logo Design
BROOKLYN, NY
SOFT SHAPE BAND / Graphic Artist - Album Cover
OAKLAND, CA
BENNI AMADI INTERIORS / Artist - Large Scale Commission
SAN FRANCISCO, CA & GENOA, IT
COURTNEY COY INTERIORS / Artist - Mural Installation
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
-
Accessories & Outerwear Designer, Illustrator & Graphic Artist - Freelance
New York, NY
Apr 2003 - Present (19 years 10 months)
Accessories, outerwear, and T-shirt graphics designer. Focus on Women’s Outerwear and Accessories, & Men’s Graphics. Reported into VP of Design & Art Director.
-
Head of Design - Full Time
San Francisco, CA
Nov 2015 - Jul 2020 (4 years 8 months)
Head of Design promoted from Design Director. Responsibilities included: concept, color, materials, branding, & collaborations direction, for bag & accessory lines. Overseeing the design team to keep brand aesthetic consistent, & ensure completion of key milestones . Partnering with the CEO, Creative Director, & Art Director, to influence branding, packaging, logo, print & pattern, & hat designs for Women’s, Men’s, & Unisex products. Partnering with Product Development Senior Director & team, to enhance strategies for sourcing, editing, & creating new materials development, with a focus on eco & recycled. Extensive travel to Vietnam, Indonesia, & China based factories. Attending trade shows, & shopping the market in NYC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, & Portland.
KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
● Grew business profits approaching 20% over 4 years - by sharing my knowledge with the factories to reduce costs & material waste, & by using simple pattern making & engineering constructions
● Award winning design creation for the unisex commuter backpack category, year after year, while expanding the Corporate Sales assortment & growth
● Leather Expertise & Resources - designed the multi-functional Women’s leather & fabric collections, while bringing resources from my tannery and mill relationships
● Eco Materials Research & Development - material sourcing & design
● Trend Research & Analysis - identified relevant macro & micro trends, with an exceptional color POV
-
Design Director - Full Time
New York, NY
Feb 2007 - Mar 2013 (6 years 1 month)
Created & implemented innovative Heritage Collections, with iconic fashion silhouettes, for the multi-billion dollar, internationally renowned brand. Women’s & Unisex Collections included; Soft Legacy, Legacy Weekend, Legacy, Saint James Collaboration, Pinnacle (flagship stores only), Chelsea, Tribeca, Ali, Soho, & Bleecker. Conducted seasonal line presentations to former Creative Director Reed Krakoff, the CEO, the EVP & SVP of Women’s Design, Corporate Merchandising, & cross-functional partner leads. Collaborated with cross-functional teams on merchandising, production, & the overall design calendar. Worked extensively with factories & international counterparts in Italy, Hong Kong, Mainland China, and Vietnam. Shopped the market in the U.S, Japan, & Europe.
KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
● Design Direction & Team Management - led, guided, & served as the visionary for stellar execution with my design team; approving a smooth sample development process, technical specifications, & high quality standards, to ensure timely completions for ordering & market
● Revenue Growth - exceeded profits, above and beyond, line plan expectations
● Trend Direction & Analysis - researched, developed, & translated cutting-edge global consumer trends to ensure adherence to design strategy
● Product Identification Opportunities - concept creation & identification to fill white space in the accessories marketplace
● Vendor Relationship Management
● Leather & Eco Material Research & Development
● Fashion Illustration & Art Direction- figurative drawing for internal use, logo design and typography knowledge to manipulate branding techniques on leather & fabric
-
Senior Designer - Full Time
New York, NY
Nov 2004 - Jan 2007 (2 years 2 months)
Designed, researched, and collaborated on all accessories categories for Women’s and Men’s Bags, Small Leather Goods, Belts, Hats, Scarves, Gloves, and Cold Weather Knit Accessories, in partnership with the VP of Accessories Design. Managed designers and worked closely with the Product Development & Merchandising Directors, to ensure hitting timelines and creating relevant products for each category.
-
Design Consultant, Fashion Illustrator & Graphic Artist - Freelance
New York, NY
Feb 2001 - May 2004 (3 years 3 months)
Contributed to design for children’s RTW, branding, and graphics.
-
Design Consultant, Fashion Illustrator & Graphic Artist - Freelance
New York, NY
Feb 2001 - May 2004 (3 years 3 months)
Contributed to design and tech specs for women's handbags, lifestyle bags, & accessories. Designed Men’s tech accessories for collaboration with Apple. Created lifesize fashion illustrations for seasonal concept presentations. Designed hand illustrations & graphics for embroidery, appliqué, & printing applications.
-
Design Consultant, Illustrator & Graphic Artist - Freelance
Mar 2002 - May 2003 (1 year 2 months)
Illustration & graphics for Boys RTW & T-shirts.
-
Designer - Freelance
New York, NY
Feb 2001 - Apr 2002 (1 year 2 months)
Designed for Girls & Boys Accessories & RTW.
-
Design Director - Full Time
YAK PAK
Brooklyn, NY
Aug 1999 - Jan 2001 (1 year 5 months)
Designed & directed backpacks, handbags, lifestyle bags, travel bags, fashion & home accessories, & licensed brands, for Women’s, Men’s, & Unisex consumer markets. Collections included - Yak Pak, Yak Pak APT, Levi’s RedTab, Levi’s SilverTab, Dickies, Coleman, & Nervous Records.
-
Designer - Full Time
ACCESSORY NETWORK
New York, NY
May 1998 - Jul 1999 (1 year 2 months)
Designed handbags, lifestyle bags, travel bags & accessories, for Women’s & Girls divisions. Worked with outside brands to design private label programs.
-
Assistant Designer - Full Time
New York, NY
Feb 1995 - Apr 1998 (3 years 2 months)
Designed children’s bags & licensed products for Disney Winnie-the-Pooh, Warner Brothers Looney Tunes, & Dr. Seuss, within accessories & plush categories. Hand illustrated print & pattern designs for children’s bags. Designed Women’s vegan leather handbags for the mass market.
-
Inker Apprentice & Illustrator - Freelance
Sep 1994 - Jan 1995 (4 months)
Worked closely with established inker Rey Garcia, on Fantastic Four, Conan, & Force Works (Avengers) comic books. Illustrated areas that needed changes.