Laura Hickson Email & Phone Number

Devon

O Designing commercial ranges across jersey & wovens that surprise and excite the current Saltrock customer and entice new customersO Driving the brands design direction & vision as a key player in a small design teamO Close team working with design, buying, merchandising and Garment Tech throughout garment development life cycleO Proactive trend, inspiration, fabric, colour and trim sourcing and developmentO Trend, concept & design presentations to team members & all levels of managementO Communication and relationship building with key suppliers & factoriesO Creating clear tech packs using Adobe Illustrator that create accurate, profitable samplesO Design in keeping with critical path deadlinesO Keeping up-to-date with best/worst seller activity and react according to sales information

Leicester, United Kingdom

O Designing ladies jerseywear across all departments for various high street retailers and e-tailersO Creating trend and shape presentation boards using a variety of methods including hand sketching, Adobe Photoshop & IllustratorO Design strategy for new SS19 seasonO Working with graphic designers to create new exclusive seasonal printsO Cold calling prospective clients, using persuasion and experience to build trust

Leicester, United Kingdom

O Designed ladies jerseywear and wovens for New Look, Select, Missguided, Little Mistress, Pretty Little Thing and Boohoo O Grew the Missguided account from beginnings to our second largest customer O Hired, interviewed and led teams, increased productivity and efficiency to gain the edge over competitorsO Increased sales by pushing the envelope on trends O Grew existing customer accounts, re-engaged dormant customers accounts and rebuilt trust with buying teamsO Designed high numbers of re-buys and top ten best sellers for my accountsO Gained exclusive insights working with the on-site factory that boasts Leicester’s largest production capacityO Furthered the businesses reputation as dependable, ethical & quality driven by operating professionally and helping to redesign the website and commercial brochures

Enderby, Leicester

O Designed girls jerseywear & wovens for Next Baby Girls and Older GirlsO Worked on-site at Next head office re-establishing relationships with challenging departments, and opened pathways for future businessO Was an effective part of an intercontinental teamO Found creative solutions that allowed us to remain competitive and maintain sales throughout heavily embellished trendsO Innovator of Next’s Athleisure range for girlswear. First to introduce trend. Still sells instore todayO Increased sales and efficiency by working effectively with 4 overseas factories by providing clear, detailed and cohesive tech packs O Remained flexible and committed to overseas travel despite demanding schedule

Leicester, United Kingdom

O Designed ladies jerseywear for Boohoo O Cold called prospective clients to secure meetings and won the business their first client and ordersO Designed across all ladies’ product categories and cut concept patternsO Used my good relationships and influence to secure fabrics from suppliers and take a chance on a new business

Leicester, United Kingdom

O Designed Men’s jerseywear for new brand We Are Human Merch and BoohooO Drove all creative aspects of the company including writing brand guidelines for both branches of the businessO Original trend concept creation and graphic designO Added in systems and processes to help our team work cohesively from various locations across the UKO Attended customer meetings and helped secure first client and ordersO Helped to source freelance staff that filled missing gaps in team

Leicester, United Kingdom

O Designed Men’s and Boy’s Jerseywear for River Island, Burton Menswear London, Republic, JD Sports & Next O Managed the largest department with the highest turnover within the companyO Led a team consisting of an assistant, junior and graphic designerO Increased sales in cut & sew menswear and boyswear departments O Demonstrated to Next, Burton & JD Sports that we could produce cut & sew product to high quality standards in LeicesterO Gained experience in fast-fashion with an emphasis on trend. Tight learning curve with challenging time managementO Developed crucial skills in anticipating customer’s needs. Multitasking and designing for multiple brands, stories and seasons at the same timeO Gained experience for the first time working with external factories, built relationships and influence, and nurtured mutual partnershipsO Garment costing, sales & account managementO Built in-depth awareness of children’s clothing safety standards within function and manufacture

Nottinghamshire

O Designed slips, shapewear, lingerie, thermal jerseywear for Marks & SpencerO Worked under the guidance of the Head of Design until promoted to DesignerO Grew department from £75,000 annual turnover to approximately £10,000,000 over 5.5 years during a recessionO Experience working with a heritage brand which gave me a strong foundation of garment quality and detailO Learned how to please buyers with very high expectations & their customersO Designs selected for press pieces, I was part of the blue-sky innovation team within the Lingerie departmentO Learned how to work well within a large team from multiple disciplines at higher levels than myselfO Formal presentations to the customer, adapting styles of presentation to reflect change within buying teamsO Concept pattern cutting & garment fitting until M&S First Fit ApprovalO International travel for trade shows and comparison shopping O Garments still on sale todayO Working with challenging overseas factories & offsite sample roomO Fabric development of technical and cutting-edge fabrics

Master Of Arts (M.A.), Fashion Bodywear

Activities and Societies: M.A Fashion Bodywear Student RepresentativeCurrently the only course in the world that offers a Master of Arts.

B.A (Hons), Contour Fashion And Fashion Design, 2:1