Hugo Miranda

Art Direction

About

I design footwear from the first sketch to the last approved prototype — and everything in between. Twenty years of end-to-end product creation across premium European brands has given me a rare combination: designer's eye, maker's hands, and factory fluency. I've developed lasts, engineered soles, built prototypes by hand, written Asia-ready technical packs, and stood in the factory to fix what needed fixing. I don't hand off problems. I follow the shoe all the way through. What I bring to a footwear team: — Full creative cycle ownership: market research → concept → last selection → material sourcing → prototype → fit → bulk — Hands-on upper construction (cutting, stitching, assembling) — I can make what I design — Asia production specification writing, calibrated for zero factory ambiguity — Seasonal trend intelligence built across 20+ years attending Lineapelle, Micam, Ante-prima, Pitti Uomo, and Who's Next — Cross-category experience: men's, women's, children's; casual, formal, sport — Client portfolio spanning Next, Zara, River Island, Aldo, Topman, and Inditex Tools: Adobe Photoshop · Illustrator · MindCad 3D/2D · Keyshot · Gravity Sketch · iCad3D+ Languages: Portuguese (native) · Spanish (C2) · English (C2) Currently Senior Designer at Hypnotic Yellow (Porto). Open to senior individual contributor, lead designer, or creative director roles — in-house or agency, Europe or global.

Country

Portugal

City

Porto

Industry

Apparel & Fashion

Skill

Icad3D+, MindCad3D-2D, Keyshot, Gravity Sketch, Adobe Illustrator, Asia Sourcing, Sole Design, Product Development, Technical Specification, Last Development, Prototype Development, Footwear Design

Experience

Art Direction

Hypnotic Yellow

2016-3 - Present · 10 yrs 7 mos

Porto

End-to-end ownership of the footwear collection — from market and trend analysis through concept, last selection, sole design, material sourcing, prototype builds, fit testing, and final approval for Asia production. · Developed seasonal collections across men's and women's categories, defining the brand's product direction and visual identity each year · Built Asia-ready technical specification packages, eliminating factory interpretation errors and reducing revision rounds · Led colour and materials strategy, translating trend intelligence from international fairs into actionable collection decisions · Directed lookbook and catalogue shoots, producing commercial campaign imagery in-house

Senior Footwear designer | Product Developer | Brand LIEUTENANT

Marisport

2012-10 - 2019-9 · 7 yrs

Oporto

Designed and developed an in-house brand from the ground up, creating a cohesive seasonal footwear identity across men's and women's categories. · Executed hands-on prototype construction (cutting, stitching, assembly), enabling same-week design iterations and faster development cycles · Managed private-label client design and sampling, expanding the studio's B2B portfolio · Sourced materials at Lineapelle, Micam, and Ante-prima, securing exclusive fabric options and building vendor relationships · Delivered full creative process across 5 years: concept, sampling, finishing, factory follow-up

Footwear Designer| QC

ALWAYSHOES

2010-11 - 2014-7 · 3 yrs 9 mos

Фелгейраш

Partnered directly with Catarina Martins studio on premium women's footwear — tracked projects end-to-end through factory, managing lasts refinement and fit approval. Contributed design and follow-up on Rokin and C.P. Company brand collaborations, delivering on-brand product within tight seasonal windows. Represented the studio at international materials fairs (Lineapelle, Micam, Ante-prima) each season, translating trend intelligence into actionable material selections.

Footwear Designer

Ges Export

2007-1 - 2010-4 · 3 yrs 4 mos

Designed casual and formal footwear for Next (UK) across men's, women's, and children's categories — presenting seasonal concepts directly to buying teams and securing range approvals each season. · Designed sole tooling for full gender range, collaborating with mould makers from 2D drawing through production-ready unit · Managed sample follow-up from strike-off through bulk approval, maintaining on-time delivery across multiple seasons · Attended Lineapelle, Micam, and Ante-prima to translate trend intelligence into range decisions aligned with Next's commercial positioning

Shoe designer

Inditex

2005-12 - 2006-8 · 9 mos

Alicante

• Supported the OFTEN design team across trend research and material sourcing, contributing directly to Inditex's fast-fashion footwear pipeline. Developed technical specification sheets for Asia production, learning the volume-manufacturing requirements of one of the world's largest fashion groups. Attended Lineapelle, Micam, Who's Next, and Pitti Uomo — building the international design intelligence practice that has defined the subsequent 18 years of work.