Melissa S.

- Own the design and development of women's activewear, swim, and accessories, from concept through production, including sketching, tech packs and seasonal direction - Lead trend research and color palette development; design original prints, graphics and embroideries to drive cohesive, market-relevant collections - Partner with global vendors on fabric sourcing and trim development, focusing on elevated hand feel, performance and cost targets - Lead fittings across core and extended sizes, refining specs and grading to ensure consistent, scalable fit - Collaborate cross-functionally to align design vision with production, timelines and business goals

- Design and develop complete tech packs for men's and women's outerwear, workwear, activewear, swimwear and accessories including creating technical spec sheets for men's and women's apparel - Review and advise updates to men’s and women’s apparel size charts and problem-solving fit issues

- Owned and managed the conceptualization, development and production of women’s and men's athletic wear, swimwear and accessory collections, including sketching, tech packing, curating color palettes, fitting samples, trend research, fabric sourcing, trim development and creating sublimated prints and embroideries - Lead the design and development of the Madeline Moves x Senita Athletics collection that launched in July 2023. Day one grossed $150,000 in sales and 550 new customers; Day two grossed $60,000 in sales and 350 new customers. - Reviewed and updated the brands size chart based on the market and current product; The new size chart launched in January 2022, and after 6 months, the return rates for company best sellers had decreased by 40%. - Developed and launched the debut men's activewear collection for Senita in 2021 - Responsible for hiring, training and managing the design team

- Established the design department - Owned and managed the conceptualization, development and production of women’s and men's athletic wear, swimwear and accessory collections, including sketching, tech packing, curating color palettes, fitting samples, trend research, fabric sourcing, trim development and creating sublimated prints and embroideries

- Created complete tech packs; conceptualizing and creating technical sketches with construction information, assessing and determining specs to create accurate styles and distributing them to vendors and patternmakers - Created the 2018-2019 company How to Measure Manual - Developed fabrics, prints, trims, and original screen print graphics for women’s tops, bottoms and dress categories - Collaborated with patternmakers on grading the garments from XS to XXL and 1X, 2X and 3X - Traveled to LA to work with patternmakers and shop competitive and aspirational brands

- Created detailed flat sketches and tech packs, developing children's crib shoes, hair accessories and hosiery for clients and large retailers

Assistant Designer APT.9 Women's Contemporary Knit Tops - Created detailed flat sketches and technical packages for all knit top handoffs - Presented to buyers, sat in on fit sessions and traveled domestically

Responsible for operating multiple industrial sewing machines, constructing sublimated jersey knit material into various activewear garments, including volleyball jerseys, basketball jerseys, football jerseys & cheer outfits for local athletic clients