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Max Summerskill

Product Director | Independent Consultant | Experienced across product development, sourcing, production, design, quality management | Luxury | High end | Menswear | Accessories
About

I am an accomplished Product Director with over 25 years experience and a proven track record working for both large corporations and a more recent focus on consultancy and freelance projects with SMEs and start ups. Demonstrated ability to effectively manage the entire product development lifecycle with extensive product development, sourcing, production, and quality management experience across men’s ready to wear and accessories. Adept at developing strategy, managing calendar, set brief, margin and European/Asian supply bases. Strong history of leading large cross-functional teams and managing the critical path to deliver top-quality collections on time and on budget. My approach is both organised and pragmatic to deliver innovative, relevant and profitable solutions, on time and to brief. For larger projects, I have the ability to draw on a versatile network of talent owing to an extensive international contact list extending across all areas of the luxury & high end menswear and accessories industry.

Previous Brands
SPOKE
Pan African Enterprises
T.M.Lewin
Trunk
MR PORTER
Connolly
Trinity Limited (Member of the Fung Group)
Crumpler Australia
ECCO Shoes
Belstaff
Work Experience
Fractional VP, Product Development
Nov ‘22 - Now
SPOKE

NED
Feb ‘19 - Jun ‘20
Pan African Enterprises

Pan African Enterprises was borne out of the desire to make a genuine difference through the delivery of capacity building projects that support and contribute to Sustainable Development Goals.

Product Development Consultant
Jun ‘18 - Apr ‘20
T.M.Lewin

Recruited to strategise and develop a complete casualwear offer as part of their brand strategy from 2018-2020.

Trunk Private Label Product Development Consultant
Jun ‘17 - Oct ‘18
Trunk

Responsible for developing and delivering a compelling & commercial wholesale offer.

Product Development Consultant - Kingsman Collection
Jun ‘17 - Nov ‘17
MR PORTER

Development & Sourcing of leathergoods for the launch of the Kingsman collection.

Fractional VP of Product
Jul ‘15 - Now
Connolly

Brand Strategy Consultant : Gieves and Hawkes, Cerruti, Kent & Curwen
Jun ‘15 - Mar ‘17
Trinity Limited (Member of the Fung Group)

Developed a strategy and then managed the development, EU sourcing, production & delivery of leathergoods for the Gieves & Hawkes, Cerruti and Kent & Curwen brands.

Product Development Specialist
May ‘15 - Dec ‘16
Crumpler Australia

Brand Strategy Consultant
May ‘15 - Oct ‘15
ECCO Shoes

Developed a strategy for the introduction of golfwear to the Ecco brand. Leveraging their expertise and success in the hybrid golf shoe market. Drawing on my previous experience of managing the Dunhill Links brand.

Business Development Consultant
Feb ‘15 - Jul ‘15
Belstaff

Languages
English - Fluent
Recommendations
Peter Stockdale
Had a client/business relationship - CEO, Crumpler
May 2015 - Sep 2016

Max worked with our brand as a Creative Consultant and delivered exceptional service, insights and direction that were not available to us internally. He helped the brand understand how far we could take our current categories but also how far we could legitimately push into new categories. Max has a great work style that is open, effective and approachable. His ability to enhance existing teams is an asset to any organisation.

Robert Mancini
Senior colleague - Managing Director - Asia Pacific, Alfred Dunhill
Oct 2002 - Nov 2014

Over the many years Max and I worked together, Max was always a great thought partner and supporter of what the business needed to succeed. His skills, product knowledge and commercial understanding of the business helped navigate solutions in a very helpful way.

Mats Klingberg
Had a client/business relationship - Owner/Founder, Trunk Clothiers
Jun 2017 - Oct 2018

Max came to Trunk with a great wealth of experience of menswear product development and was instrumental in the first steps of turning the Trunk own label into a significant part of our edit of great brands from around the world. Max is very well connected with the best suppliers and is also a true joy to work with, so can highly recommend.

Sven Gaede
Had a client/business relationship - , T.M.Lewin
Jun 2018 - Apr 2020

Max is a true professional with a solid network and strong product knowledge across several clothing and non clothing product categories. He has a strong work ethic and a team spirit. He was an invaluable member of the product team that transformed our product proposition.

London, UK