2015 - Present.
Homewares Buyer (part-time) - Johnstons of Elgin.
Selecting and buying homeware product for Johnstons of Elgin retail stores.
- Working as part of the JOE retail team buying home interiors product for their stores which compliment their own range.
- Creating seasonal direction for ‘Courtyard’ interiors store through trend analysis, storyboards and communication with visual merchandisers and retail staff.
- Attending home interiors trade shows, selecting product and observing trends.
- Organising bi-annual home interior store product launch events.
- Managing stock levels, OTB, research and analysis of customer buying patterns and consumer trends.
2015 - 2016
Visiting Lecturer - Glasgow School of Art.
Guiding 2nd, 3rd and 4th year weave students through the syllabus at GSA encouraging creativity whilst maintaining an impetus on industrial practises.
2007 – 2015
Textile Designer, European Marketing and Sales - Centex International.
Designing and developing innovative seasonal collections in weave, print and embroidery for India based textile mill. Running UK design studio and marketing collections within Europe to brands such as Hugo Boss, Mulberry, Calvin Klein, John Lewis, Gant, Joules, Hobbs and Monsoon. Oversee growth of European accounts.
- Designing and developing innovative seasonal scarf collections in weave, print and embroidery for India based vertical textile mill.
- Built up a European client base from scratch which included customers such as Hugo Boss, Mulberry, Calvin Klein, John Lewis, Gant, Joules, Hobbs and Monsoon.
- Prepared European market reports for Indian factory and created seasonal trend boards across and wide range of themes and stories based on customer requirements,
trade show visits, trend web-sites, presentations and publications, comp. shopping trips, analysis of catwalk trends, and customer requirements.
- Designed and co-ordinated collections with India and UK design teams, guiding Indian designers on European trends.
- Experimented with new fabric and yarn qualities, combined textile techniques to create new, innovative aesthetics.
- Collaborating with customers on collections, inspiring customers with new textile techniques and directions, creating CAD in Photoshop and NED Graphics.
- Co-ordinated customer visits to India, took designers from Boden, Gant and Hugo Boss on comp. shopping trips in Delhi.
- Working with Indian buying houses to create the correct product for their customers.
- Created web-site content, brochures and marketing presentations to attract new customers.
- Responsible for the developing and managing European business through design, marketing and sales.
- Overseeing sampling and production of product on bi-annual visits to the factory.
2004 - 2007
Woven Textile Designer - Johnstons of Elgin
Woven textile designer for Scottish cashmere manufacturer. Worked on range of designs for home and fashion accessory collection.
- Designing seasonal collections of fashion and home accessories.
- Researching trends and creating seasonal storyboards from which the design team would work.
- Designing for industrial manufacture, technical aspects of textile design
- Working in a vertical mill, learning about all stages of woven textile production.
- Customer presentations
2003 - 2004
Stylist Assistant - Elle Decoration and World of Interiors magazines, London.
Managing props for photoshoots and assisting stylists on location.
2000
Custom Weave, Carpets and Rugs, Sydney, Australia
Studio Assistant.
Summer 1998
New York Textiles, New York
Studio Assistant.
Summer 1998
Tait and Style, Orkney
Studio Assistant.