Industry

Misha & Puff

Director of Technical Design

I was hired at Misha and Puff to help guide the company through its next phase of growth, leveraging my past experience as a director in the fashion industry. During my time at this Boston-based company celebrated for its handmade knitwear, I had the unique opportunity to deepen my industry expertise by contributing to the brand's transition from a boutique e-commerce business to a scalable wholesale model. This role encompassed technical design, process improvement, and cross-functional collaboration, allowing me to leave a lasting impact on the brand’s growth.

One of my key achievements was helping to launch new product categories, including adult apparel, expanding beyond the brand’s traditional focus on childrenswear. I also advocated for separating kids' and infants' product categories to create more precise fits, rather than relying on a single set of grading standards. These efforts enhanced product quality and customer satisfaction while aligning with industry best practices.

To elevate the brand’s technical design standards, I introduced professional-grade tools and processes, such as Alvanon grading standards and industry-standard dress forms. I developed woven grading standards as the company ventured into woven styles like cotton and linen garments. Additionally, I standardized tech pack elements, including Points of Measure (POMs) and How-To-Measure guidelines, which streamlined communication with factory partners, reduced sampling needs, and ensured consistency in consumer-facing size and fit guides.

Given the handmade nature of Misha and Puff’s products, I created highly detailed construction pages for tech packs, tailored to the unique needs of the brand’s hand knitters. To better communicate with our overseas artisans, I learned to knit and crochet, bridging the gap between design and production and fostering a deeper understanding of the craft.

As the company navigated its growing pains, I collaborated closely with senior management to implement systems that supported scalability. I developed a functional company calendar using a project management platform, addressing key milestones and aligning cross-functional teams to meet deadlines. I also created a vendor expectations manual to ensure clear communication and accountability as the brand demanded more from its factory partners.

This role allowed me to merge creativity with strategic thinking, contributing to both the brand’s operational efficiency and its celebrated craftsmanship. The experience deepened my technical design expertise and reinforced my passion for building sustainable and innovative processes in the fashion industry.

Industry

Obermeyer

Director of Fit & Technical Design

From 2014- to present, I worked as a Fit & Technical Designer starting from Associate, to Specialist, to Manager, then eventually to Director. A legacy brand in the skiwear industry, Sport Obermeyer brought me onboard to assist and later lead their company “Fit Initiative”. In my first year, I worked with a mentor who had 40 years of Fit experience in the industry, and I learned a tremendous amount of skills on pattern making and how to achieve the best fitting garment. Our focus was to implement fit standards as a first step towards improving the fit. This included standardizing measurements, creating How to Measure Guides, quality assurance sheets, fit profile guides, and creating fit blocks.

In my second year, I became the Fit Specialist for our Kids, Teens, Men’s, and layering product categories and worked to improve the fits for those categories. Simultaneously, I implemented new processes for the department, such as creating Fit Comment Pattern Revisions Diagrams for our in-house and overseas teams, implemented a move from using paper patterns to using an e-pattern software, and developed a “Fitting Protocol” for our fit & design reviews. These process changes improved the fit of our product by allowing us to execute ideation with the Design team more efficiently and effectively. Through better cross departmental communication, this also led to speeding up our overall development time.

In year three, I was the lead Fit Specialist for new product categories, which included Infants, Hats, and Gloves. I researched and developed the fit and grading standards for these new product categories. By year four, I became Manager of the Fit & Technical Design Department. While in that position, I was also the Fit Specialist on our most fit intensive categories, which included Women’s Outerwear, and our Pants Program. As the department manager, I hired and trained a whole new team of Fit Specialist, and annually traveled to several countries in Asia to teach highly specialized pattern making techniques to our factories.

During my time as Director, my goals have been around continuous industry research, and implementing initiatives to move our brand forward. This has included research in special sizing, new sizing across cultures, implementation of new technologies in 3D body scanning, virtual 3D design development, online fit “predictors” for our website, and pushing our brand toward greener and more sustainable practices. Over the years, not only have a learned a plethora of knowledge on fit and pattern techniques, but I also learned how to teach, and lead a team of people into becoming a more creative and collaborative group. My time at Obermeyer has been extremely rewarding as I have personally been able to contribute to the overall success of the brand. Through my many projects in Fit & Technical Design, I have dramatically improved the company's fit, and Obermeyer is now known to be one of the best fitting brands in the outerwear market.

Fred Meyer

Graphic Designer & Visual Merchandiser

In 2012 I was offered a position with Fred Meyer stores corporate team, working as a Graphic Design & Product Development Intern. As an intern, I was eager to learn as much as possible and had asked for opportunities to take on new and challenging projects. I was afforded the chance to independently research trends and design my own graphics for the brand. My designs and prints were well received, and I began designing graphics mostly for the in-house Women's and Kid's garments. These designs included print repeats, one-way prints, engineered prints, and general apparel graphics. Pictured are the graphics used on the finished garments that were eventually sold in stores. When the internship program had ended, the Development team requested that I stay working with the team until my return to the university.

Upon returning to school, I remained with Fred Meyer working in their stores as the apparel department Visual Merchandiser. With my five years of prior fashion retail sales and management experience, visual merchandising allowed me to merge my retail and design knowledge. Through mannequin displays, product arrangements, and sale signage sets, I was able to use my creative eye and understanding of product to merchandise the floor for effective sell through. Having the retail experience was extremely applicable to my studies in merchandising, as well as beneficial for my career in design. By working retail while simultaneously attending school allowed me to see firsthand the consumer facing side of the industry. This comprehensive experience gave me an understanding of consumer buying habits, and effective sales and marketing tactics to reach the product to the end consumer. Additionally, it was an extremely rewarding experience to merchandise on the sales floor, and see customers buy the very same product I designed while working in the corporate office

Costume Design

1977 Collection with Marti Calson

In 2012-2013 I worked for costume designer Marti Calson, as an assistant designer, seamstress, model, and shop employee. Working in the costume shop, I learned about various measuring & fitting techniques to allow for working with multiple theatre troops. Additionally, I learned how to design and construct garments taking into consideration "quick changes" for theatre productions.

Working with Marti, I was also able to design several of my own costume ideas. While simultaneously working on my Apparel Design & Merchandising Management degrees, I created a collection for a class project and for Marti's costume shop. I was particularly fond of working on period pieces, so I created a 1977 collection. For these period pieces I had access to archived Harper's Bazaar and Vogue magazines to gather my inspiration. I enjoyed period pieces because of the extensive research that was generally required. Pictured below are additional period pieces I created while working at Marti's shop.

OLUKAI Footwear Design

PENSOLE Footwear Design Academy

In 2012, I was invited to study at the PENSOLE Footwear Design Academy in Portland, Oregon on a full scholarship based on a winning entry design (shown here). PENSOLE was a unique experience, since there are not many opportunities to specifically study footwear design. PENSOLE gives students the opportunity to work with industry footwear designers from Nike, Adidas, DC, Columbia, and many more to learn hands on industry design processes, particularly in regard to technical sketches and materials research. Students are paired with footwear design companies, competing for each design company to utilize their designs for production.

I worked with Olukai footwear to design a new sport surfing shoe, which eventually went to production. Pictured is my work through the design process to final market product, including design briefs, color inspiration, and multiple iterations of design sketches. This surf shoe was very different from other Olukai products, as they mostly designed luxury sandals and lifestyle products. Olukai as a brand identifies itself with Hawaiian culture, therefore I incorporated various aspects of Hawaiian culture such as the love for surfing, and native wildlife and art into my design.

Adidas

Functional Design Project

While studying at Oregon State University, I had the opportunity to collaborate with existing companies in the Portland area, in order to grow my portfolio and expand my industry network. Working with Adidas, I was tasked with designing a functional and versatile garment for women's running, while still being trend forward. Thinking of fitness as one of the elements of good health, and running being the most elegantly simple form of fitness, I was inspired by the four basic elements; earth, air, fire, water. As a student this project challenged me to design from an abstract concept for inspiration, while also designing with the intent to meet a functional need.

Considering the importance functionality and versatility in a modern world where women have busy lifestyles, it can be a challenge to juggle healthy activities. Therefore, I created a garment that could be worn in multiple different ways to go from daily life to workout. In needing a piece that can easily go from running errands to getting in a daily run, I created a tank top/sports bra combo piece, with matching running pant. The tank top has a cute and classy silhouette for everyday wear. The bottom of the tank top buttons off from the top to function as a running sports bra. The bottom of the tank can then be reattached as a hood for running in the elements. In rain or shine, time or place, for this woman, nothing should stand in the way of her achieving her fitness goals. Project submit included, inspiration images, hand sketches, on trend color palette, and technical sketches.

Pendleton

Product Development Project

While studying at Oregon State University, I had the opportunity to collaborate with existing companies in the Portland area, in order to grow my portfolio and expand my industry network. Working with Pendleton, my team and I were tasked with developing a womenswear line to partner with Pendleton’s already existing menswear line “High Grade Western Wear”. This allowed us a real-world experience for utilizing our product development skills. In asking who this new consumer could be, we conducted the necessary market research to understand this consumer’s demographics and interests. Our team identified our new target consumer to be similar to the then popular TV cooking show host, Ree Drummond aka, “The Pioneer Woman”.

To target this new consumer, we developed companion pieces to existing the menswear collection, which included a western style button down shirt, and a shawl cardigan sweater. Since Pendleton is well known for its print and plaid development, we also created our own repeat print and plaid specific for this line. Project submit included standard industry product development documents, such as mood boards, measurement & spec sheets, construction detail callouts, technical sketches, and color line merchandising boards, which were then presented to Pendleton’s Design and Merchandising teams. Understanding when presenting this new line concept, consideration for brand image, price points, and fabric & print feasibility would be key to a successful launch.