Kelli O'Neill

Senior womenswear designer for high end high street. Multi product across woven & jersey.

o High quality supplier to high street retailer Marks & Spencers. 700 stores worldwide.
o Solely responsible for the seasonal design of contemporary skirts and trousers for the ‘Collection’ label.
o Fabric categories include linen, cotton stretch, ponte, jaquards, tencel, viscose, jersey and prints on all bases. Also design innovative secret slimming garments as part of the collection. Fabrics sourced from Italy, china and Turkey. Develop exclusive fabrics as part of range.
o Travel to NY, Paris, London to complete comparative shop reports.
o Compile and present mood boards, colour stories and key trends.
o Responsible for accurate compilation of technical specification packs for each garment. Manufacturing in China, Sri Lanka & Turkey.

o Luxury, bespoke tailoring & ready to wear Australian brand. Collection designed with integrity out of the worlds finest raw materials.
o Responsible for seasonal range planning & design of fine merino suiting, 2-ply cotton shirting, merino, silk & pima cotton knitwear & cashmere outerwear across 3 collections – Custom, Collection & Classics.
o Researched & compiled seasonal mood boards/colour boards.
o Selected & compiled accessory range including sterling silver cufflinks, hand-made silk ties, merino & silk scarves.

o 101 stores in Australia & NZ. High end retailer focusing on premium fabrications & modern classic style.
o Responsible for seasonal design of formal wovens and jersey across tailoring, dresses, tops, trousers, skirts & smart casual separates.
o Identified new trends and actioned new silhouettes on a short lead time.
o Compiled comprehensive seasonal mood/colour boards for 6 drops per season.
o Fitted all garments to required spec.
o Worked within a structured budget to suit the market. Set by management/buyer.
o Designed the collection to a new brief. ‘To offer the 30+ career woman modern & contemporary staples with an emphasis on sophistication. To keep the existing customer, but to attract a wider variety. Keeping the range competitive to other brands such as Cue, Veronika Maine, Saba & Country Road’

o Luxurious & iconic Australian brand. Sartorial & bespoke in styling of suiting & classic ready to wear. ‘Distinguished by detail’ is the brands fundamental philosophy.
o Responsible for product design, direction and creative input.
o Developed a seasonal comprehensive Womenswear & Menswear range from classic tailoring to smart/casual. The range included woven suiting (110’s & 120’s merino wool), cashmere outerwear, shirting (Egyptian double twist cotton), knitwear (fine merino, cashmere, silk & pima cotton), dresses (silk & Egyptian double twist cotton) and jersey (silk & pima cotton). All fabrics were sourced from premium European Mills.
o Managed a team of design assistants, pattern cutters and sample machinists.
o Worked within a structured budget to suit the market. Set by management/buyer.
o Travelled 3/4 times a year to various destinations including Paris, Milan, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Portugal and China. Visits were focused on fabric fairs (Milano Unica and Premiere Vision), visiting manufacturers and inspiration retail shopping.
o Continually researched fashion trend influences and creating seasonal mood and story boards.
o Fitted and approved all styles in the collection. Signed off graded specs and design sheets for production.
o Presented the new season’s collection to Herringbone retail sales staff and managers every 6 months. Training staff on the ‘features and benefits’ of the styles in the collection to enable them to sell to the customer.
o Advised staff how to merchandise the range in store and window displays.

o Leading supplier to Marks & Spencer.
o Responsible for trend forecasting and product design of casual shirts and jackets.
o Worked with team of designers and buyers to create a comprehensive casualwear collection for Marks & Spencers.
o Continually sourced new fabrics in Europe. Developed exclusive fabrics.
o Experimented with wash techniques on fabrics such as cotton, tencel and denim.
o Travelled to New York, Paris, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
o Identified new trends and actioning new silhouettes on short lead times.

o Responsible for assisting the senior designer in creating a casualwear collection for Marks & Spencers.
o Created colour and mood boards.
o Drew specs of each garment in the collection.
o Compiled the design sheets for each garment.
o Researched wash techniques such as sandblasting and distressed washing for denim.
o Sourced relevant fabrics for seasonal presentations.