I am a Head Designer with over 15 years of industry experience. Working in particular within Luxury Streetwear, notably at Aries where I was integral to building it into a cult brand. I have a refined eye for product and graphics as well as being skilled in team management, merchandising, product strategy. My experience is across multiple categories, in particular; jersey cut & sew, denim, flou & soft wovens, knitwear, accessories and woven and leather bags
Responsible for Jersey Produis Finis team of 4 direct reports. Design direction and realisation of Menswear & Womenswear for pre-collections, show (runway) and capsules across a broad range that encompasses T-shirts and Sweats through to eveningwear, lingerie, swimwear and hosiery.
My brief has been to balance a sense of irreverence and subcultural edge whilst meeting the commercial needs of Merchandising. Fully responsible for Design and Conception of -Women's Jersey, I was promoted to design across Soft Wovens after my first months in the role, now comprising: -Research 2D and 3D to identify new trends, fabrics and silhouettes to creatively drive the teams and to challenge and inspire the artistic director -Building cohesive seasonal stories across Jersey and Flou -Sketching of silhouettes and figure illustrations as well as technical flat drawings -Managing fittings and following prototype development -Communication with commercial teams to track performance of the collections
I joined Alexander McQueen to be involved in the forthcoming MCQ Alexander McQueen rebrand. I hoped to utilise my skills in and understanding of Streetwear and graphics I developed in growing the Aries brand- a similar project but with fewer resources. As part of the new MCQ Collective my responsibilities included: $ Research into "Gen Z" target market to define a relevant brand identity $ Research and development of sustainable practices in the design department $ Design and development of capsule ranges $ Responsible for an overhaul of Women's carryover finishing and shapes $ 3D draping and experimentation work to create new shapes $ Construction knowledge to create tech packs and handover to product developers $ Managing Assistant Designers' workflow, giving guidance/feedback
I was instrumental in growing Aries into a cult brand with sales growth, various successful collaborations and a nomination for Womenswear at the British Fashion Awards. Working at a high level of responsibility for this independent luxury brand has given me broad experience including: $ Managing and leading a team of up to 6 direct reports; Designers, Graphic Designers, Interns and Production. Reporting directly to Creative Director. $ Hiring and training interns and junior designers, who either make up the current design team or have gone onto other employment in the industry. $ Organisation and design across all categories (Wovens, Jersey, Denim, Accessories etc) with the Design team and Creative Director $ Range planning in collaboration with Sales Team, as well as devising seasonal colour palette $ Costing garments with Product Development and Commercial teams $ Experimentation with textiles, cut, deconstruction and draping, 2D and 3D research $ Creative problem solving to industrialise atelier techniques and for production $ Sourcing trims and fabrics $ Leading fittings and comments sessions $ Managing of and communication with UK and European manufacturers
seasons stocked in London, Europe and online internationally as well as DTC sales. Specialised in experimental hand dyeing techniques, deconstruction, embellishment and prints using vintage or deadstock fabrics, I also oversaw CMT production in UK
$ Reporting to creative director and studio manager, I assisted in design, sketching and fabric selection, deliveries, sales, organisation of the archive and studio
(Selected Projects) $ As assistant to Keko Hainswheeler, I worked on the design and production of stage outfits for Lady Gaga and other VIPs, and for stylists Nicola Formichetti, Anna Trevelyan and Kim Howells. Management of interns, who went on to gain varied employment in the Fashion industry $ Design, research and tech packs for High Street supplier, Mono $ Product development, pattern cutting and prototyping for youth fashion brand Shade London $ As fashion archivist for Aces High, I edited their archive catwalk footage into looks, researching and metadata tagging silhouette, style notes and trends $ Bespoke, tailoring and alterations for private clients and start up brands, using excellent knowledge of fit and garment construction
$ Work placement year working mainly on research catwalk looks, embellishment and pattern cutting