Isabella Colombo

Managed the Design, Product Development and Product Management teams in order to bring to life two successful footwear collections at Hush Puppies, one American and one International, from design briefing to product presentations to the commercial teams worldwide, following and supporting the company brand strategies.

Promoted to Global Product Director to manage the new Global Product Hub in EMEA, reporting to VP Product in USA and managing a team of 4 Product Managers, with the goal to reset the Casual Product strategy for the Women’s Footwear collection. • Key interface between the Global Product team and the Global Commercial and Marketing enterprise, developing collections briefing strategies for execution by Design, Development, Merchandising and Sales. • Created and communicated a vision for the category, analysing marketplace, consumer and price positioning needs. • Built strong relationships throughout the organisation to ensure success. Maximised cross-functional working relationships to ensure the most impactful and successful initiatives were well communicated.

Key interface between the EMEA Commercial enterprise and the Global Product team to ensure market trends, opportunities and key consumer insights from EMEA were fed back with clarity and structure to provide a platform for seasonal initiatives and product positioning. • Directed the development and roll out of EMEA merchandising plans against Long Range Plan and budget targets, to ensure brand health and elevation consistent with Global strategy. • Reset the Merchandising strategy for the EMEA distribution creating a collection designed in Italy, and successfully sold globally. • Collaborated with Marketing team to direct communication and trade marketing strategies and with the Commercial team to support them during Selling Campaigns.

Implemented product strategies for the collection working with all departments to successfully launch of lines. • Developed the business through market best practises, competitors, price analysis and local needs in alliance with regional Sales team for both Wholesale and Retail channels. • Enhanced category profitability by aligning merchandising plans with Supply and Finance strategies.

Managed the product line lifecycle from briefing till sales, in line with global brand strategy. Conducted EMEA market research to rationalize category and segment opportunities. Managed product training in EMEA and collection presentation to buyers. Run sell in and sell thru reports to track performance.

Delivered increasing category profitability & line productivity for Fiscal Years ’05 and ‘06. Directed seasonal merchandising strategy from briefing to the Design and Product Development team to presenting the collection to retail and wholesale markets, working closely with Marketing team to direct communication and with the Commercial team to support sales. Monitored sales performance to capture future opportunities.

Defined and developed global product, marketing commercial and sales strategies for the collections. Managed communication with the sales network providing detailed support for marketing initiatives. Coordinated production with factories.

I was a co-founder and Director of a fashion agency All About Fashion, based in Johannesburg with showrooms in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Our focus was to bring European fashion brands into the South African market with a particular emphasis on channel selection, marketing and sales development. My responsibilities included relationship management between the European fashion houses and the local clients, managing PR and marketing initiatives, coordinating trade shows participation for various brands and accompanying clients on purchasing trips to Milan, Paris and London during the Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter selling campaigns.