Sujata Murugkar

Founder, Designer and Creative Director at SaaRii, a South Asian Luxury Ready to Wear brand.

* Conduct product development for private label cut & sew knits and luxury fully fashioned sweaters at KBL Group * Collaborated with Senior Knitwear Designer to launch 7 brands in the cut & sew knits category for casual wear and career wear at NYC Alliance * Developed detailed tech packs for luxury fully fashioned sweater knits at Minnie Rose * Designed & developed fully fashioned sweaters for 3 brands at Nation Design

* Conducted extensive trend research, created moods boards, selected yarns, developed color cards, knit-downs, attended trade shows, met with vendors to add freshness to the line and grow business * Designed 50-250 new styles per season, covering 10 deliveries and 6 seasons per year * Developed detailed tech-packs and followed up on product development till salesman samples stage * Presented line at line review and merchandised the line following input from sales team * Worked in liaison with technical designer to finesse the production fit over multiple fittings * Collaborated with graphic designer on stitch, print and pattern development * Designs were instrumental in opening new accounts like Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdales * Styles received rave reviews at trade shows and achieved triple the amount of production orders

• Awarded as top 5 finalists in Betabrand’s “Big on Betabrand Contest” from 400 global design entries with launch on crowdfunding platform • Designed and developed contemporary cashmere sweaters for State Cashmere • Collaborated with design directors for design and product development including market research, hand sketching, CADS and developing detailed tech packs at Sien Knitwear, 525 America, New York & Company and Love Scarlett brand at NYC Alliance

• Partnered with Senior VP of Design, Design Director and Sales team at Ralsey division to develop original sweaters for Charter Club at Macy’s • Researched trend directions, performed competitive analysis, oversaw yarn, design concepts, presentation boards, mock-ups, color-ups and inspiration photos for design meetings • Created hand sketches, Illustrator sketches, spec sheets, line sheets and ensured maintenance of designs in shared drives • Partnered with Design Director in showroom set-ups and presenting the line at line reviews • Maintained communication with Macy’s merchandising team, Hong Kong product development team, LF production, technical, sales and CAD departments to ensure smooth flow of information • Mentored and monitored assistant designers and performed evaluations for interns

• Designed new line of women’s sweaters for better markets • Executed development of knitwear line to merchandise with separates as part of a collection for four seasonal presentations • Achieved double the amount of production orders since inception of line and reorders of bestselling styles over multiple seasons

•Awarded grand prize in Modern Bride & Fashion Group international design contest and published in Modern Bride magazine •Awarded Grand Prize for Best Fashion Collection in Goldwell design contest