I am excited to announce that I am representing Danfield's extensive leather collection to prospective buyers of leathers in the Fashion and Interiors industries. Utilizing the skills I have gained working for nearly 20 years in the footwear and accessory manufacturing world, I am know able to provide our high quality leathers to our current and rapidly expanding customer base. * Serves customers by selling products and services and meeting customer needs.* Services existing accounts and establishes new accounts by planning and organizing a daily work schedule to call on existing or potential sales outlets.* Focuses sales efforts by studying existing and potential volume of dealers.* Works with marketing and other departments to constantly improve customer-facing communications and product information by sharing client feedback gained in the field.* Keeps management informed by tracking all sales momentum and generating weekly work plans.* Maintains and monitors all sales lists.* Works closely with our stock team to build curated sample boxes that have been researched for each customer.

* Connecting designers with high end American footwear production.

* As a consultant my roles include design guidance, sample development, material and component sourcing, factory relations, footwear production and pricing. * Each consulting project has its' own individual needs so my services can range from maximum to minimum involvement from client to client.* I have worked with both mens' and womens' footwear including casuals, dress, comfort, boots, sandals, runway and volume in addition to handbag collections.* Previous consultation projects include both small and large companies each which required factory experience both in Los Angeles and China.

By working closely with the designer of this new brand, "Mi Capri" shoes, I lent out my experience and education with designing, sampling and producing footwear. We took Carrie's designs and mixed them with my technical knowledge and Los Angeles factories and suppliers and created a stunning debut collection for Spring 2011.

Lead team member responsible for factory planning, production and employee management of the Los Angeles, CA footwear factory, Clover & Cobbler. Day to days include:-Working with private label brands to bring their designs to life through sample development.-Production planning and management of ship dates. -Maintaining raw material inventory levels throughout each department and re-ordering as necessary.-Establishing vendor/designer relationships

* Sourced and connected all local footwear material houses to designers and developers.* Built materials room: Organized, labelled and stocked all materials.* Staffed prototype lab with local artisan shoemakers.* Day to day included communicating design details between designer & engineers, working with Rhino 3D printing, creating spec sheets and line plans and organizing patterns & style files.

Jen + Kim Shoes was a collection of made to measure footwear crafted in Los Angeles. Each pair sold went directly to the customer as to properly handle the unique customizations the brand allowed on each style in the collection. Customers picked from the fit tested silhouettes and then had the ability to customize that silhouette with the material and color that best fit their wardrobe. As the designer of the collection I was responsible for:* Updated designs season to season which reflect not only the trends for each season but the needs of our customers.* All sourcing of materials. This includes leathers, fabrics, vintage/one-of-a-kind materials, heels, components, hardware and outsoles.* Establishing and maintaining all relationships with factories and vendors: Shoe/heel/insole/packaging factories, leather and fabric suppliers, embroiderers and hardware vendors.* Maintenance of material collection.* Production and shipping of every pair of shoes sold through Jen + Kim.As a partner in the business I was responsible for:* Outreach to coordinate events at which the Jen + Kim Collection can be sold.* Website maintenance.* Timely reporting of all production expenses and fluctuations in pricing.* PR outreach.* Social media generation and maintenance.

* Handled all development of samples and production on this vegan collection. * Worked with various materials to keep this collection eco-friendly (water based glues, non leather outsoles, Italian synthetic leather, vintage fabrics, reclaimed wood and hardware.) * Worked hand in hand with the heel manufacturer on hand carved wood heels to create shapes that coincided with each design given to me by designer, Bay Bertea. * Worked closely with the designer to bring each of her designs into a produce-able shoe that reflected her original design intention.* Communicated between the designer and the factory to relay all pertinent information to both parties and come to terms on many aspects of designing and pricing footwear.

Jen + Kim shoes expanded and collaborated with Coloriffics to launch Jen + Kim for Coloriffics. Spring 2011 was the debut of the collection. It was followed by a Holiday 2012 Collection as well. Its' higher price point allowed me to bring the high fashion aesthetic of Jen + Kim Shoes to the bridal world. See my work on Coroflot here: http://www.coroflot.com/KimThomas/Jen-Kim-for-ColorifficsIncluded various trips to China.

After consulting on the Spring 2010 collection and designing the Fall 2010, Spring + Fall 2011 and Spring 12' collections, I developed the Fall 2012 collection. Starting with research and trending I moved forward into silhouette and pattern design to bring this company my on-trend design aesthetic that merged seamlessly with their high technology background. * Travelled overseas to Chinese factories to build product that met technology standards set forth by the company.* Assisted the men's footwear designer in developing the men's collection and understanding men's development and construction.* Sourced materials in China that were both on trend and in the price range that met the requirements to retail to our intended (and current) buyers.* Conducted fit tests to ensure standardized fits and maximum comfort levels.* Attended numerous trade shows to interact with buyers and better understand the market.* Worked directly with sales team to ensure all designs fell in line with the ability to sell.* Ordered and maintained all samples for the women's collection.* Communicated directly with China to ensure all specifications were met in both sampling and production.* Worked in China to prototype, sample and produce a quality product.

Designed private label product for labels such as White House Black Market, Skechers, Sears and Laundry List. My process took all of the designs through the sampling process and then onto various meetings with developers and buyers from each company to cull and complete each collection. Inspiration was taken from each labels current offerings (color palettes, materials and applicable trends) to create a collection that worked for the individual label. Included various trips to China.

As my first job with my footwear degree I was exposed to the industry at a factory level. I worked to bring the designs of legendary footwear designer Fred Slatten to life. I took each design through the sampling process and worked at our in house factory to order the correct materials and build product that matched his designs. I also worked on the in-house brand "Chocolat" to build a comfort collection for our sales reps. I worked closely with pattern makers, lasters, stitchers, gluers and finishers and gained immense factory experience by doing so. It was here I learned first hand what it takes to make fine footwear.