Bio

I am an experienced Head of department in fashion versed in all aspects of fashion and textile design, trend forecasting and market analysis, range building, sourcing and product development. I have worked across a wide range of brands from designer to high street, including Karen Millen, Oasis, Monsoon etc. In addition, I have experience of working with existing wholesale labels, start up labels and running my own fashion label.  Phase Eight, Nocturne and Moleta. 

Running parallel to my design career wherever possible I have taken the  opportunity to lecture in fashion and have done this successfully in numerous universities and colleges from Edinburgh to London College of Fashion.  I genuinely enjoy the chance to share my industry experience and to help guide students to achieve their creative potential. It has proved to be a really rewarding experience which I will continue to invest in.  I am familiar with developing curriculum material and assessing students within a college framework as well as giving feedback to students in a constructive way.

My expertise and commercial passion is working on ranges for small brands with a strong textile direction.  I achieve my best when working through from concept stage – mood boards, fabric and textile manipulation, colour palettes etc. onto design sketch through to final fit sample and production.  My strength has  always been working closely with in house pattern cutters and factories to achieve a high end product.  I greatly enjoy working with companies where I can use my unique creative flair to grow and focus a brand to commercial success.

Education

PG Dip Design
Napier University

BA(hons) First class Fashion
Middlesex University

Art Foundation
Kent Institute of Design

Fulbright commission
Harvey Nichols /Calvin Klein award

Experience

Damann Brown  2018 - present
Design Consultant

A textiles company formed by design colleagues specialising in working from India creating original artwork swatches sold mainly to designers at Premiere Vision and now starting as a clothing label.

I have been active in designing embroidery  and a collection and using Indian textile techniques whilst working with factory to make swatches for the high end market.  Now we are currently in process of designing a collection that incorporates the best textile designs but on simple shapes, patterns are being made in the uk and sent out for manufacture in India.  It is always exciting to be part of a new project.  Working as freelance consultant advising and sketching collections, fabric selection and communicating designs for sampling at factories.  The aim is to produce  a high end yet sustainable collection.

Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop 2019
Fashion Sculpture

Writing and delivering a Saturday workshop over 4 weeks for ages 11-14.  The idea was to have a 3 dimensional task each week with a demonstration that the participants could interpret freely in various materials with my technical and creative support.  I enjoyed this greatly and was enthused by the personal achievement and purpose of such a young group. Their varying responses were very individual and they really enjoyed the process of making. Due to demand I am now running another block in Jan/Feb.

Moleta Munro Ltd.  2009- Jun 2019
Creative Director

I was a founding partner of  interiors business, Moleta Munro ltd. Established over the last 12 years initially as a retail business, the company have now evolved into a design consultancy and source mainly Scandanavian contemporary furniture and lighting for contract projects.  Our USP is finding cutting edge/ directional designs to show to contractors.  This means I need to be aware of furniture trends as I have done with fashion. It is no surprise that fashion and interiors go hand in hand so it was a natural progression. I attend  Salone Milan, Stockholm furniture and lighting fair, Clerkenwell design week etc. to research current design and suppliers.   MM have worked on numerous projects of various size projects from individual homes to the hospitality and hotel sector such as Glasgow Theatre, G&V hotels, numerous bars and restaurants, Bar Soba, Radisson hotels, recently St Andrew’s square appartments. My role as Creative Director with 6 staff  involves a lot of team work and thinking, flexible thinking work and good communication with staff.  I have worked hard on defining and understanding roles as we grow, flexibility and logistics as well as time management has been key. It is a tough and very varied role as often the case running your own business.www.moletamunro.com

Napier University  2016 - 2017
MDes Lighting currently PGDip

Studying part time for post grad in lighting at Napier University. I became especially interested in the abstract nature of light and how light becomes visible especially on sculptural surfaces and reflective surfaces.  It was a demanding but fascinating to return to study at this stage and to be introduced to the world of design through proper research, such as typographies, phenomenology etc. The course has widened my understanding to academic research and  once more and allowed me the space to explore the nature of aesthetics etc. 

Edinburgh College of Art  2014 - 2016
Teaching Fellow

At ECA I worked as a Teaching Fellow initially for second year, then mainly first and second year with some additional post graduate teaching.

Working closely within the education team with fellow lecturers and Course leader to write and deliver projects considering learning outcomes that sit within the university framework.  Assessing work across all years again within teams and checking in to ensure our grading was coherent.

Overall my role was to help students understand and apply the creative process, from research, design development and through to initial sample and prototype stage.  During this period it is key for these students to build up their skills in fabric development  and making; learning a variety of techniques from dying, sewing, finishes, block printing  given by small group workshops or individual tutorials. As well as helping them then apply this to 3d shapes working on the stand, pattern cutting, use of digital technologies such as laser cutting, digital printing. 

Aiding in the presentation of their design work teaching fashion illustration techniques and technical drawings or flats which are the industry norm.  I also encourage photoshop or illustrator skills that they have can really help showcase their work.

Working on collaborative projects with industry sponsors such as H&M, Johnstons of Elgin and the RSA competition.  In the H&M project the team came to give a presentation from their department and were in close contact with the design progress of the students.  3 of the students went on to secure placements at the Stockholm HQ.  It was an invaluable project for the students to work with industry and understand how the design process works.

More contemporary projects include the Diversity project which ECA works on with Karen Franklyn, journalist and fashion innovator.  It’s a project which makes students aware of the need to understand diversity in fashion.  The intention is to get the students to understand the reality and consideration of real sizing, gender and ethnicity in fashion so that they will be able to carry this through to the industry when they embark on their various careers.  

I was asked in to work specifically on range building with the fourth years in their first term.  Using my industry experience I would ask them to do thumbnail sketches with fabric/detail attached.  Systematically we would then go through the process of how to look at the collection holistically; a balance of colour, fabric, proportion with design detail interconnecting.  Ultimately this makes them understand how a catwalk or capsule collection works when presented. 

In all years I was actively involved in weekly tutorials with each student and groups depending on project.  This would then be recorded and written in their termly feedback on projects etc.

Monsoon Ltd. London  2013 - 2016
Design Consultant

Working on  trend forecasting on all areas for the design team, the brand needed to refocus and have all departments work together to produce coherent design stories. Together we worked on key stories, shapes, fabrics and colour. This involved working with in house team on print using CAD and illustrator mainly to produce artworks for meetings.  The design teams would then be able to work into these stories rather than each department creating its own look which had led to the brand looking inconsistent.  Implementing a swatch and sketch program to help with an oversampling issue and unfocused design.  Delivering a creative but directional commercial product that engaged the customer. Liaising with Head of Buying.

Heriot Watt University Galashiels  2008
Visiting lecturer maternity cover
BA Fashion for Industry

At the Galashiels I mainly taught the first year of the BA Fashion design for Industry degree course.  I encouraged the students to actively research the remarkable textile heritage collection that was housed on site to inspire the direction of their work. I was asked to write and deliver appropriate project briefs that  had more of a commercial practical application due to the industry bias.   This was taught in stages from research, through to design and onto prototyping or working ideas out on the stand - with workshops at the beginning of each week and concentration on developing and applying research to design and how we might visualise the design through practical days by working on stand and with paper etc. I will always challenge the students at any level to try to push their work creatively and research through making.

Oasis Ltd. 2007
Head of  Formalwear, Print and Colour                              

Forecasting trends, buying print and working on colour palettes for formal wear department.   Directing small design team and designing directional product across soft separates, jersey and some tailoring.  Buying and creating original artwork for range.  Working with a junior designer on CAD and Photoshop for communication with factories and meetings. This was the best selling department where the design and buying team was responsible for continuing and growing those sales, which we achieved.  Sourcing from China and India, working from initial sketch through to final sample, benefiting from an inhouse sample room

Nocturne Ltd.  2004 - 2006
Founder and Design Director

After having worked at Karen Millen I was approached by one of our Far East factories to help start my own label and at my suggestion start a second more commercial label Nocturne - Occassionwear fashion brand for the luxury market, with a vintage feminine handwriting.  Both labels were wholesale and within 6 months of launching Nocturne was in Liberty and numerous important independents, Bernards of Esher, Coggles etc.  Dresses retailed from £300 – 600. Nocturne launched 2 collections per year of around 120 pcs per season.  Mainly print and embellished onto silk and jersey bases.  

Moleta Ltd.  2004 - 2006
Designer 

My own label Moleta also achieved success. It was more edgy and contemporary using print and embellishment with complex directional shapes.  It was bought into Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, sitting in the contemporary designers section, as well as independents such as Diverse, Sixty six, Start, Simultane etc

Karen Millen Ltd.  2002 - 2004
Head of Occassionwear/Soft Separates

Sourcing mainly out of India and Far East I was given a free reign to design and develop complex and embellished product. Creating mood boards, colours and fabrics with subsequent capsule collections. Our main best seller was dresses and separates mainly on silk bases. I would also be overseeing and designing jersey and jeans pieces that were developed in the Far East too.  It was a very creative role, led by a small, strong design team.  It was very directional and there was a clear path from concept to product in store without dilution. The ranges achieved great commercial success and were often repeated. 

London College of Fashion, Curtain Road 2001- 2002
Visiting Lecturer

At LCF I taught the second years of the BA Fashion located in Curtain Road East London.  This was a large intake of 70 students across two classes with a significant number of Far Eastern students who required more assistance with the expectations of the course and the creative approach.  

My role involved writing and implementing of projects that were integral to other departments teaching eg.  Creating contemporary forms by cutting on the stand which linked in with contemporary pattern cutting skills in tailoring.  By working across departments this allowed the students a more holistic way into their work.  I always seek to help and inspire the student to develop their skills in research methods and research through making.  Documenting their work in their sketchbooks is crucial to their design output. 

In addition I also taught second year  BTEC Fashion course at the Oxford Street campus to a cohort of 30 students.  I formulated projects for them reflective of then BTEC standards.  I worked closely with them to answer those briefs in a more direct way giving them a practical insight and methodology as to how a designer works in the industry. The outcomes were very clear.  There was an emphasis on teaching presentation folios and illustration /layout of designs.  My role here was more pastoral here as the students were younger which I really enjoyed.

Phase Eight Ltd. 1999 - 2000
Head of Design, Print and Knit

Heading up a small team as a woven Designer working with a knitwear designer and assistants we worked tirelessly create ranges for 25 shops as well as wholesale range selling to large retailers such as John Lewis, Fenwicks etc. It was great to work in such a tightknit team where we could create a strong signature that was our own. Together we worked on designing softs separates, jersey, tailoring and outerwear to sit together as well as knitwear.

Fulbright Commision UK 1997
Calvin Klein/Harvey Nichols Fashion Award

The award I won gave me funding and an internship at Calvin Klein New York.  Here I worked on collection and CK departments as well as studying part time at Fashion Institute of Technology.  It was a wonderful experience into a global company, and working at both high end and mid market level was fascinating in terms of how the collections were researched and the collation of material to develop concepts that then turn into commercial pieces at different market levels.

Tilsonburg Ltd. Hong Kong  1995 - 1996

Tilsonburg was a supplier to the mass market in America.  It was a steep learning curve after Italy.  This was a very fast paced environment that demanded you to be a very commercial designer.  I learnt many skills from dealing with mass production, liaising with factories and pricing.  As well as trend presentations and selling to buying team of large US clothing corporations such as The Limited.

SDL studio Italy  1993 - 1995
Studio Designer

During my time at Belli Arti I also managed to land a freelance position as Designer for a new studio in Carpi near Bologna.  The studio had 2 labels but also supplied design work to local design companies -  These designs were sold as packs or complete projects.  This is the only time I have worked like this.  we also provided Colour Palettes, original swatches of knitwear, embroidery etc.  It was here that I learnt a lot about embellishment and textiles from knitting to print.  All the factories were small and in the local area so this was a dream in terms of turning very creative ideas into reality. 

Accademia Di Belli Arti, Milan  1992-1993
Assistant Tutor in Fashion

My first job after graduation was an Assistant Fashion Tutor at the Academia di Belli Arti in Milan.  I used my knowledge that I had gained in college and working under Head of course devised projects and ways of working for the students.  I helped the students research projects and apply their knowledge to design outcomes.  I taught also illustration and folio presentation as well as working on the stand, and practical aspects in textile design and print.