Heading up the design team for all in-house designed and developed categories of bridesmaids dresses, little white dresses/separates/tailoring and getting ready outfits (lounge/casual wear, PJs and robes), reporting directly to the CEO of the company who is currently on maternity leave. Setting all direction from initial concept & trend stages- silhouette, fabric, color, print & trims, through to influencer, lifestyle & ecomm photoshoot styling direction, pre-shoot and on set; transforming the handwriting of the brand to be more elevated and fashion forward.Responsible for the day-to-day running of the design team workload and calendar, managing an Associate Designer, freelance Designer, freelance Print Designer and freelance Colorist.Undertook major quality projects by re-sourcing all core fabrics, re-dipping and standardising all core colors, and re-fitting all legacy products to a new industry standard aligned fit model, both for regular and plus sizes, while utilising higher end finishings and construction methods. Introduced many efficiency initiatives- including new tech pack layout, weekly cross-functional meetings and shared agendas, buy meeting process, photoshoot styling and sampling process and post-production color control process.

Lead Designer for the Song of Style collaboration and contemporary in-house brand L'Academie.Heading up the Song of Style brand, collaborating directly with Aimee Song, the brand’s namesake and Creative Director; from initial brainstorming of trend and concept direction, through to garment execution- staying true to Song’s personal aesthetic while pushing forward newness through elevating fabrications and handwriting.Song of Style- responsible for 200+ skus annually across all categories from soft wovens, cut and sew, tailoring, outerwear and denim; directing the fully fashion knits and footwear designers and managing an Associate Designer.L’Academie- supporting the Design Director in leading a team of designers across multiple categories; from concept/trend and fabric selection, through to being personally responsible for the soft wovens and cut & sew categories of 100+ skus annually.Lead meetings with cross-functional teams- Fabric R&D, Tech, Production, Buying and Marketing, driving data review, team facilitation, innovation, development, production, product knowledge and training; style and plan all Song of Style product photo shoots in collaboration with Marketing and Aimee Song’s team.

Lead all non-denim categories including knit and woven, tops, dresses, bottoms, loungewear, outerwear and sweaters for Jessica Simpson and Sofia Vergara; manage hundreds of SKUs annually.Create sell-out items including twist-front bodysuit, rib dress, updated kimono, hacci fabric dye lounge set and wrap dress; increased unit buys with a hyper-focus on fashionability, new fabrics, updating print handwriting and championing real trends. Manage 2 direct reports, Associate Designer and Product Development Associate; present directly to CMO and SVP of Design.Direct the introduction of sustainable fabrics within cost, to be utilized by 3 brands within the company; partner with overseas vendors directly and manage internal overseas Fabric Sourcing team.Lead meetings with Tech, Production, Sales/Buying and Marketing, driving data review, team facilitation, innovation, development, tech packs, product knowledge and training; style and plan all product photo shoots in collaboration with Marketing.

Hired to launch premium loungewear and yogawear brand at Coterie; designed 150 SKUs covering all categories including knit and woven; founding employee reporting to CEO. Defined brand aesthetic, setting trend, color and fabric direction for each season with 5 seasons annually for initial women’s range; added children’s range within 3 months based on demands from Nordstrom, which sold out 3x.Acted as Creative Director, focused on integrated brand strategy for social media and website; partnered with external marketing agency, digital design team and website developer to launch social/digital promotional campaigns and advertising. Directed ecomm, look books, and social/digital photoshoots, creating indoor and outdoor sets; managed models, vendors and logistics. Mentored 2 direct reports, Design Assistant and Production Assistant and traveled regularly to China and Hong Kong for vendor meetings and fabric sourcing within markets and trade fairs.

Managed design assistants and associates as lead designer across all knitwear areas, covering knit tops, knit dresses and leisurewear.Created weekly review of selling reports, where little existed, to develop focused design strategies to advance the brand; introduced innovative yet price sensitive fabrics planning to the brand to drive overall cost reductions. Selected prints and introduced new fabrics by resourcing bestseller Turkish fabrics in the Far East; transformed brand designs to create bestseller running qualities; also introduced sourcing at New York textile fairs and undertook development and fabric sourcing trips to Shanghai Intertextile fair. Partnered with in-house pattern cutters and machinists, directing draped designs; updated styles to match successful U.S., UK and European trends and create broad appeal; improved handwriting of brand to be fashion-forward.Invited to advise company-wide Design and Sales in Monday trade meetings for national best/worst sellers, then advised Buying and Merchandising to establish trading actions for the week and monthly/seasonal lessons learned.

Accounted for one third of company’s sales, responsible for £20M+ budget, annually; oversaw team of 7 designers and 30 SKUs per month; named Acting Design Director in final year.Led Marketing collaboration as Creative Director of partnership with national British reality TV show, “The Only Way is Essex”, attending meetings with production/actors to plan promotion of ranges worn on show; defined social media strategy; styled for filming/photo shoots; saw immediate uptick in company-wide sales through partnership.Increased sales performance, achieving 150% increase within Y1; launched all-new Occasionwear line as well as loungewear and knit bottoms, hoodies, joggers, activewear, leggings, palazzos and shorts.Partnered with Head of Buying to facilitate trend brainstorms and brand strategy; fostered comprehensive initial research and forecasting; educated all buyers, merchandisers and senior management on product design strategy. Managed start to finish sample process, leading collaboration with multiple international vendor sample managers in China, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Turkey and UK domestic.

Promoted to Senior AD, began as Assistant Designer, tasked with designing M&S Collection woven and knit tops range, alongside senior designer and buying team; covered blouses, shirting, knitwear, with annual budget of £60M. Chosen by Head of Design to lead 2 special projects - Twiggy and first-ever Best of British ranges; performed initial research and trend direction with cross-functional design teams; managed ranges through to sign-off and buys. Selected as first designer to work on exclusive ranges for the international markets (500 stores internationally); developed first all-linen range for India; began as very small ranges, which grew to 20-30 styles/season. Designed open-to-buy special pieces for press shows which received considerable press attention from magazines and online outlets, including Vogue, which led to top sellers.

Internship and London Fashion Week show assistance

Internship at Vogue and Glamour

Internship culminating with the London Fashion Week show