With over 25 years of experience in the apparel and footwear industry, I have brought my insights from skateboarding, street wear, outdoor and fashion to Iconic Global brands. Currently Senior Global Creative Director for Men’s and Women’s Apparel & Accessories, I now combine these insights to create lifestyle and performance product for the Converse consumer.
DESIGN EXPERIENCE
CONVERSE 7/2014 to present
Boston, Massachusetts
Sr. Global Creative Director, Men’s and Women’s Apparel and Accessories (2018-present)
Global Design Director, Men’s Footwear (2014-2017); Men’s Apparel (2017-2018)
Member of the Converse Extended Senior Leadership Team, and the Converse Creative Leadership Team
Lead the seasonal Creative Direction for all Converse Design (Footwear and Apparel).
Lead the Apparel & Accessories category and a team of designers in architecting new design initiatives and platforms and in developing and energizing the Creative Culture, Basketball and Skateboarding consumer segments, inline and Incubate (collaborations).
Art Direction for all Apparel & Accessories graphics.
Reset and Re-established Women’s Apparel with a focus on the China Consumer.
Oversee the execution of all product details, including construction detail, color, form, style, fit performance, graphic application, and trim.
Communicate the creative vision and brand direction to internal and external design teams and stakeholders.
Partner with Innovation team to develop and integrate new innovation concepts for Apparel and Accessories.
Ensure that key product creation dates are met, design tools are effectively utilized, and cross-functional teamwork enhances efficiency and uniformity.
Created and Lead Apparel Education series for entire Apparel function in order to educate and build knowledge around the creation of Apparel for new and current Employees.
Lead the redesign, refinement and rebuild of the Converse One Star, Pro Leather, and Weapon.
Lead the creation of new footwear designs for Converse, collaborating with both internal and Nike Innovation teams to create and utilize both new and existing innovations.
LEVI STRAUSS & CO 5/2011 to 7/2014
San Francisco, California
Global Senior Designer, Men’s Made & Crafted Collection
Previous Position: Global Senior Designer Men’s Outerwear and Wovens, Red Tab, Global senior designer, Commuter Tops and Outerwear.
Lead Concept and designed the premium, modern expression of Levi’s Men’s Outerwear, Wovens, Knits, Sweaters, Denim and Non-Denim Bottoms, and accessories under the Made & Crafted Collection, merging function and lifestyle.
Partnered closely with merchandising to deliver premium product while still maintaining profitability.
Partnered closely with marketing to make sure marketing stories and materials represent seasonal concept and key products. Curate content in Look Book Periodicals and style photo shoots for Lookbooks.
Partnered with and designed Levi’s collaborations including Nike, Supreme, Pendleton, Canada Goose and The San Francisco 49ers/NFL.
Managed and Mentored Wovens Designer and Assistant Outerwear Designer. Grew Outerwear Business 29% in first season.
Received the Koshland Excellence award for my contributions to the Levi’s Commuter line, designing the tops and Outerwear for the Fall 2012 season.
NIKE Inc 6/2007 to 5/2011
Portland, Oregon
Senior Designer, Nike Skateboarding and Paul Rodriguez Signature Collection
Previous Position: Design Director, Nike 6.0 Men’s Apparel and Footwear / Senior Apparel Designer, Nike 6.0
Partnered with Creative Director to create seasonal concepts and design direction for apparel and footwear.
Developed relationships with Nike athletes to understand and visualize the needs and necessities to design pertinent product to the specifications of professional skateboarders.
Worked with Advanced Innovation Teams to develop innovative new technologies for apparel in skateboarding, including the first dri-fit wovens and screen printed tees at Nike, Worked with Cone denim mills to create a vectran stretch denim, the strongest stretch denim at the time (Nike Skateboarding X Levi’s collaboration).
Partnered with Nike Brand Marketing teams to develop plans around marketing and highlighting specific product and athletes and develop seasonal visual guides for various media.
Managed and mentored team of footwear, apparel and accessories designers
LEVI STRAUSS & CO 10/2003 to 6/2007
San Francisco, California
Senior Designer, Mens/ Young Mens/ Levi Strauss Signature /Pro Grade Work Wear
Created seasonal design concepts and direction for styling.
Developed all seasonal fabric and finish direction.
Designed and sketched all seasonal styles.
Partnered with pattern makers and developers to develop and build all technical packages for contractors.
Traveled into source spaces in both Latin America and Asia to develop prototype finishes and styles.
Presented seasonal stories, design platforms, and prototypes to internal and external partners.
Managed and mentor designer and assistant designer.
FTC SKATEBOARDING 1/2002 to 10/2003
San Francisco, California
Design Consultant
Consulted with owner and graphic designer on seasonal concepts and direction.
Designed seasonal cut & sew apparel, worked with development team and Japanese vendor to produce product.
RECON SF 1/2002 to 10/2003
San Francisco, California
Manager/ Curator/ Assistant Designer
Assisted with buying and communications with International Clothing Brands (including Acronym, Bathing Ape, WTAPS, Neighborhood, Mad Hectic)
Merchandised floor displays and product on sales floor.
Curated and hung every show in art gallery.
Responsible for all shipping and receiving of all retail products and art pieces, domestically and Internationally.
Partnered with owner in designing seasonal graphic prints for t-shirts, products and art prints.
LEVI STRAUSS & CO 9/1999 to 11/2001
San Francisco, California
Assistant Designer / Dockers® Khakis for Women Bottoms
Designed innovative, market-right bottoms based on seasonal trend direction.
Shopped markets for trend, fabric, and styling details.
Developed seasonal textiles, pitched colorways, and illustrated key looks using U4ia CAD system.
Participated in departmental fittings and national fit tests to ensure innovation in fit and product integrity.
Approved lab dips, prints, strike-offs, yarn-dyed patterns, and sundries for sample and bulk production.
Created and managed garment packages including mill sheets, technical sketches and measurement specifications.
Communicated with offshore and domestic suppliers to facilitate the design development process.
Created color and concept boards for trend presentations.
CRUX PRODUCTIONS 2/1992 to 11/1996
Emeryville, California
Production Manager
Oversaw and produced pre-press, production, and post- production for all screen printing orders for t-shirts, stickers, snowboards and skateboards.
Oversaw production process including printing with automatic and manual presses and four-color process printing.
Designed original graphic artwork for private labels and custom orders.
Participated in the in-house design process for company’s internal designs.
EDUCATION
Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising Associate of Arts, Fashion Design
San Francisco, CA June 1999
Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Minneapolis, MN FINE ART (Drawing, Painting, Sculpture) August 1988- May 1990
COMPUTER SKILLS
Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, inDesign, Keynote, PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook Exchange