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Senior Designer
Fruit of the Loom, Inc.
Bowling Green, KY
Jan 2018 - Present (6 years 3 months)
Senior Designer, Intimate Apparel - Fruit of the Loom
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Senior Designer - Walmart & Private Brand Outdoor Apparel
Bentonville, AR
2014 - Present (10 years)
As the sole designer, create seasonal trend presentations for Habit (in-house brand), Cabela’s, Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Amazon and other clients’ internal brands.
o Proactively research aspirational brands to gather concept design ideas.
o Identify key silhouettes, colors, design details, fabrications and technologies.
o Work closely with clients to maintain brand integrity.
o Using Adobe Illustrator, create digital presentations to share information company-wide.
Expanded design offerings and drove sales for Sam’s Club River Shirt apparel category from 400,000-unit sell-through per season to 1 million per season over a three-year timeframe.
Maintain relationships with Wal-Mart buying team to ensure brand integrity with reference to core customer and price points.
Present line offerings to all internal and external stakeholders.
o Review and explain design decisions, key trends, fabrics, patterns and colors.
o Gather feedback and provide support to enhance and close purchase orders.
Travel domestically and internationally to meet buyers, source materials and attend trade shows.
Collaborate with sales team to review goals and price points for season’s planned items, ranging from opening to mid-tier pricing.
Create over 500 men’s, women’s and youth garment tech packs per season including technical sketches, construction, fabric, color, trim and packaging information.
Create and manage all trim and fabric development from sourcing to production.
Using Excel spreadsheets, track all trims, fabrics, lab dips, yarn skeins and packaging materials while maintaining close contact with team in Ningbo, China to ensure timelines are met.
Collaborate cross-functionally with teams and individuals company-wide to ensure timely design-to-production completion.
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Designer - Laura Ashley Sleepwear
New York, NY
2012 - 2014 (2 years)
Researched global markets, aspirational brands and trend forecasting services to identify new trends, designs, fabrics, prints and techniques.
Traveled domestically and internationally to source fabrics and collaborate with buyers, licensing team and factory sourcing representatives.
Developed and sketched product lines that aligned with both the Laura Ashley brand and licensing requirements to drive acceptance and formulation of next steps.
Presented line and communicated directly with buyers, business associates and management on design decisions, key trends, fabrics, patterns, color and packaging information.
Partnered with merchandising, product development, technical design and sales teams to develop design and marketing strategies that produced brand-appropriate garments at the desired price point.
Managed assistant designers and design interns, including assigning and overseeing projects and directing daily activities.
Corresponded daily with overseas factories regarding sampling, component sourcing and pricing.
Created trim, sewing construction and print detail sheets for all designs.
In partnership with technical design team, ensured fittings capture design aesthetic intent and communicated change requirements to overseas suppliers.
Worked with print designers to create brand-appropriate seasonal prints representative of the licensed Laura Ashley brand.
Collaborated with graphics team to develop new packaging and branding concepts representative of the Laura Ashley brand.
Analyzed and matched lab dips/strike-offs/yarn skeins under various light sources.
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Design Assistant - Ralph Lauren Sleepwear
New York, NY
2010 - 2012 (2 years)
Oversaw factory outlets of America and Europe programs from concept to production.
Developed Ralph Lauren Blue Label capsule for factory outlet stores. Created tech packs, corresponded with suppliers and collaborated with buyers to present styles, supply samples and gather feedback.
Researched and developed emerging concepts for design inspiration, including developing mood boards and identifying trends in colors, fabrics, trims and silhouettes.
Partnered with technical design team to achieve highest quality and best fit to ensure buyer satisfaction and low return rate.
Created detailed flat sketches in Adobe Illustrator for design presentations, tech packs and catalogs.
Worked with merchandising associates to edit and refine line.
Corresponded daily with multiple overseas factories.
Prepared design and trim detail sheets on all styles for technical design team.
Worked with color analyst to analyze and match lab dips/strike-offs/yarn skeins under various light sources.
Attended all prototype and preproduction sample meetings to review garments and note changes.
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Design Intern - Ralph Lauren Sleepwear
New York, NY
2009 - 2010 (1 year)
Constructed visual delivery boards for design meetings.
Created presentation packets for merchandising, sales team and buyers.
Prepared garment specifications for preproduction meetings.
Organized and cataloged all inspiration imagery and photographed inspiration garments for design presentations.