About me
I am an accessories designer specialising in leather and similar materials; apart from product design, I have extensive experience in team management, merchandising, buying, supply chain management (client and vendor), trend analysis, sales and marketing, and forecasting. In my latest profile, I was working in the capacity of a Product Development Manager for Ishana (an Indian Retail company).
In my +5 years of experience, I have designed for leading Indian companies including Da Milano, Kabir Leathers and Alpine Apparels. In my early days, I had the opportunity to deliver products to the likes of Debanhams, All Saints and M&S.
But most importantly, since 2013, I have built an entrepreneurial presence in the Indian women accessories market by conceptualising and operating Etre Designs (www.etredesigns.com).
Projects
- Design accessories and handle merchandisingI worked with this start-up bespoke/luxury brand as a senior designer for the high-end leather products division. One of the key projects undertaken was the revamp of a Jeep into a luxurious design vehicle. Working with this company gave me the opportunity to work with some high income category clientele in Delhi and network with industry giants in the field of bespoke. Also, each project undertaken required a time intensive conceptualisation which opened the gates to a vast array of global fash
- assistant designerI started my career with this company, and the key responsibility in this role was to design concepts and swatches with detailing using buyer theme boards and trend forecasting. Also, I researched on brand’s consumers, ideology and cost factors, and created a range of accessories for brands like All Saints, Lucky Brand, Debenhams, Marks And Spencer, House Of Fraser, Biba. For brands such as All saints - the range was created of women handbags with distressed leather, the look was worn out, yet finished. On the other hand for Biba the collection of swatches were bridal , hence includes ,delicate embroideries using beads and lace.
- range of leather accessoriesCreated a range of products for each season, beginning with thorough trend and colour forecasting, travelling to global markets to understand the current and emerging trends and moulding them into the domestic market. This also included extensive competition analysis.Visualised a collection for the season and presented the same to the retail team, placed orders for the collection keeping in mind the feedback of consumers, and created a range of appropriate product and price mix. Ordering with the vendors, keeping in mind their capacity and lead time, giving quality control measures which were to be followed in the production process, and managed vendor queries. Finally, analysed the movement of the launched collections, placing repeat orders, adding or removing certain features and utilities according to customer feedback while also giving creative and design inputs for visual merchandising, ad campaigns, product shoots, social media marketing.
Work history
Product Development Manager
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Manager – Product Development
December 2015 – February 2016
Working as a Product developer, I was responsible for the Jewellery, Apparel and Accessories category. The role included strategic partnerships with pertinent vendors to fulfil market trends, market needs, product ranges, replenishment, as well as new product developments. Also, I was responsible for expanding the supply base and sourcing products which can positively influence sales. Travelling to various parts of India was also part of the job, in order to source locally from artisans. Other responsibilities included team management, budgeting, and sales forecasting, visual merchandising
Head Designer
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Rejoined Da Milano as a head designer, and was responsible for designing the AW2015 and SS2016 collections. During this period, I travelled to China for sourcing. The aim was to create a range with silhouettes, details and products of all price points. I was also responsible for planning leather and hardware requirement for the collections. From a forecasting perspective, the responsibility (joint with the Production Head) was to forecast sales using historical data and analysing the expected trends.
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Skills
- Fashion
- Print Design
- Product
- CAD
- Design
- Problem Solving
- Prototyping
- Research
- Sketching
- Illustrator
- Photoshop
- Powerpoint
Education
Bachelor in Design
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