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SELF EMPLOYED
PAIGE WILKINS DESIGN
AZ
Jun 2020 - Present (4 years 3 months)
Since moving to Arizona in June I have been self employed freelancing as a creative consultant & designer, working on apparel design projects focusing on Kids & Womenswear. I help both start-up and established global brands with a wide variety of creative needs from trend & concept research, design & collection development to finalized sample packages for factory production.
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SENIOR DESIGNER
GYMBOREE
United States
Mar 2019 - Jun 2020 (1 year 3 months)
Appointed to lead a new design team overseeing the 2020 re-launch of all Girls apparel. My role as Head of Design was to lead the creation of quality, compelling, balanced & innovative product continually tweaked in response to real-time consumer feedback. Re-build customer engagement and retention, with an emphasis on gaining lifetime value and brand dedication.
The role also included:
• Overseeing all Girls design & approving seasonal direction for Baby, Toddler & Big Girl product categories.
• Research & hindsight of upcoming trends, building out collection concepts with color, print, graphic & fabric direction.
• Partnering with R&D team to develop & drive fabric/trim innovation, achieving desired fabric library with tight cost parameters.
• Analyzed past business & consumer behaviors to build appropriate road maps & brand trajectory with merchants.
• Collaborating with sourcing to create new strategies aligning cost targets with progressive product evolution.
• Establishing key, captivating head to toe looks, positioning Gymboree as the go-to kids clothing destination.
• Traveling internationally to Hong Kong Corporate Head Quarters to manage production development & approvals.
• Being a strong & communicative leader. Develop & maintain a team with effective relationships internally & cross-functionally.
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DESIGN MANAGER
THE CHILDRENS PLACE
United States
Mar 2016 - Mar 2019 (3 years)
Toddler Girls Design Manager for outerwear, active, sweaters, knit tops & bottoms, woven pants, play-wear & swim. In 2018 grew the ecomm sets business by 168%, in-store matchable tops by 14%, outerwear 77% & knit bottoms 22%.
I also:
• Owned research and development - Shopped appropriate markets, staying on top of incoming trends, & interpreting them into the brand aesthetic.
• Made & maintained garment tech packs & BOM packages for overseas.
• Encouraged cost effective garment constructions while maintaining desired product outlook.
• Worked with merchants to monitor sales to better adjust road maps, driving sales & profit margins.
• Attended & lead fittings to communicate fit intent & provide final feedback & sign-off.
• Initiated compelling head to toe outfitting for all brand meetings & final store presentations, leading to increased sales.
• Oversaw approval of all development submits.
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DESIGNER
ABERCROMBIE & FITCH KIDS
United States
Oct 2012 - Mar 2016 (3 years 5 months)
Progressed from Assistant to Designer, managing a team over-seeing Girls dresses, rompers, skirts, shirting & fashion bottoms. My role as Design Manager:
• Worked with tech teams to conduct fittings, evolving the product from initial designs to final creation.
• Encouraged product differentiation, leading to stronger customer loyalty and in turn, increased sales.
• Sourced fabrics & trims desirable to the target customer, including lace.
• Managed the approval of all development submits including strike-offs, lab dips, hand-looms, embroideries & embellishments.
• Partnered with merchants to negotiate cost solutions reaching AUC targets.
• Lead quarterly presentations to CEO.
• Worked with SVP to build seasonal concepts & engaging floorset presentations.
• Traveled domestically for design research and product development.
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GLOBAL CONCEPT DESIGNER
ABERCROMBIE & FITCH
London, United Kingdom
Jul 2012 - Oct 2012 (3 months)
Before leaving for the States to pursue my career in apparel design, I was asked to work at the London Headquarters with the Concept team. Duties I performed:
• Analyzed global trends to build seasonal concept packets for Women’s & Kids, distributed to design teams globally.
• Assigned to attend Paris & London Fashion Weeks to photograph events.
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MENSWEAR DESIGN INTERN
AUBIN & WILLS
London, United Kingdom
Jul 2010 - Jul 2011 (1 year)
Working as a junior intern, I assisted the Menswear design team on knits, wovens & sweaters. Priorities included sketching, building tech packs, styling outfits for lookbooks, building floorsets, creating mood boards, color palettes & range plans.