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Shoefabrik VIETNAM
- Creative Director
2013 - 2014
Product Categories: Running, Hiking, Casual, Sports leisure, Fashion
(Helly Hansen, On running, Pointer, Hush Puppies SA, Bracos, Keds, Rockford)
Key duties: Manage and inspire a team of 15 (graphics, product design, pattern engineering, materials dpt., colour dpt.) with an objective of supplying in-house brand directors with creative needs in a time manner.
*Shoefabrik is a Anglo/German owned company (100 employees) based in Ho Chi Minh City, offering a high level design, development, commercialization, production service to multiple sports footwear brands
Reason for leaving: One year contract completion
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WORDSWORTH DESIGN LTD, Vietnam/ France
- OWNER
2006 - maintenant
Product Categories: Exclusive men's footwear (creation 2011). http://www.ewshoes.com/
Key duties: Creation of a totally new range of men's shoes (10 styles). Mission statement, budgets, purchase of leathers in advance. Factory selection & price negotiation. Managing stock, creation of web site, organization of sales events, selling to end consumer at shows in Paris & Lille. Creation of on line shop and the weekly management.
Key achievements: Creation of my own product line. Turning my inspiration in to reality. Selling to end consumer at shows in Paris and Lille.
Role: DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT
Product Categories: Performance rugby (Gilbert), cricket (Gray Nicolls), hockey (Gilbert), Trends Search (Clarks), luxury men's & ladies (Borgioli* - Italian luxury brand), Hardrige - (French luxury brand)
*Borgioli manufacture for T Ford, Valentino, D&G, Emma Hope, Prada
http://www.borgiolifratelli.it/
http://www.gilbertrugby.com/boots/club/barbarianboot
Key duties: Client prospection, Budgets, Market watch (trends, new opportunities, material developments), design, development, costing, technical package execution, sample size sign-off.
Key achievements: The creation of my own Ltd. Company in France. 3 consecutive (FW 09, SS 10, FW10) collections exhibited at prestigious Pitti Uomo Show, Florence Italy, my creations published in men's luxury magazine (Monsieur, Homme Luxe, Vogue leather...). Creation of HARDRIGE's NEW TERRE, AIR, MER concept.
Identification of 30 trends (15 within the sports market & 15 within the wider market) for CLARKs (15 month contract) + identification via images of ``how the Clarks brand is perceived in the UK''.
Creation of Gilbert Rugby's Pro Boot for 2 seasons.
Role: DESIGN LECTURER (occasional)
Teaching design and footwear knowledge & approach to 3rd and 4th year undergraduate students l'Institut Superieure de Design Valenciennes (workshop style of passing on knowledge)
http://www.design-valenciennes.com/professionnels/workshop-de-prospective/
Reason for leaving: Take up Creative Director role at ShoeFabrik, Vietnam
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DECATHLON
- ADVANCED CONCEPTS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Villeneuve d'Ascq
2003 - 2006
Product Categories: Performance & in-line running, advanced hiking, in-line Indoor
Key duties: Development & Design of indoor & hiking, liaising with biomechanics dept. & external partners to identify new advanced concept opportunities, project management of advanced projects from brief to completed project (stand alone & completed proto-type laboratory & wear testing, benchmarking, liaison with European & Asian partners in proto-type building, hiring and liaison with external design studio's to achieve aesthetical ambitions, presentation of completed technologies to Décathlon's internal brands).
Key achievements: Played a key-leading role in the successful completion of the FLEX concept (allows natural foot movement), which has been incorporated into a number of Décathlon's footwear categories (running, fitness, hiking...). Played a key-leading role in the completion of the CS2 concept (shock absorbing function), which has been incorporated into most of Décathlon's footwear categories. During the same calendar period I was the leader for KALENJI's (Décathlon's running brand) new high end running shoe: I sourced & managed the design studio, sourced and implemented a new factory, developed the shoe through to in-store launch.
http://www.quechua.com/fr-FR/le-concept-flex-a-768.html
http://www.kalenji-running.com/fr-FR
Reason for leaving: To create my own company WORDSWORTH DESIGN LTD
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ELLESSE
- HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT
2001 - 2003
Product Categories: Performance & inline tennis, performance hiking, Après Ski, casual
Key duties: Project management of a new Performance tennis line & Après Ski line with key input on all development issues & professional player wear testing, regular travel to Asian manufacturing partners to achieve development ambition. Responsibility for seasonal factory allocation.
Key achievements: Implementation of a ``totally'' (from marketing brief to 1st Production) new line of tennis footwear and a ``totally'' new line of Après Ski footwear.
Reason for leaving: The opportunity to lead Décathlon's advanced concepts.
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ADIDAS Vietnam
- DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
1999 - 2001
Product Categories: Performance & in-line running, tennis, soccer & lifestyle
Key duties: The creation of sample size to the highest industry standard. Development of all fit & wear test samples, commercialization of full size range & production sample. Constantly seeking and testing new materials & procedures in close collaboration with Asian development & manufacturing partners. Regular travel to Europe to present samples to HQ teams.
Key achievements: Osmosis running shoe. Flux running shoe (direct moulding of PU onto an unstable base material). Participation in the adi-LEAN manufacturing training program + the ongoing project & implement work of the findings.
Working at the highest level in the industry + working within an organization producing 80 million pairs annually taught me a great deal about how culture impacts the product creation process and the impacts of HQ decision making at the hard end of manufacturing.
Reason for leaving: Head hunted by Ellesse international.
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Pentland Group
- DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
1996 - 1999
Product Categories: Soccer & Rugby
Key duties: In the first 18 months my main focus was the design & development process after which I was given the responsibility of the entire process (research, design, development, costing, in-house proto-typing, regular Asian trips to achieve development ambition, production samples, and salesmen samples)
Key achievements: Creation & implementation of the Mitre Speed Stud (in the 1st 5 metres of a sprint, player is 0.5 metre in front of player using conventional conical studs). The industry's 1st ``removable blade type cleat. Extensive collaboration with biomechanical partner throughout conceptual, design, development, laboratory, wear testing phases. The speed stud was endorsed by FIFA, The Imperial College of London and had great media coverage in The New Scientist magazine, The Audi Magazine & The Times.
Reason for leaving: Head hunted by Adidas Vietnam.
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Lotto Spa - Italy
- DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, Italy
1995 - 1995
Product Categories: Performance Volleyball & Soccer footwear, football accessories (gloves, shin-guards, bags, balls)
Key duties: Project management of the development process, with emphasis on professional player testing & feedback (Treviso Volleyball club & Milan Football club)
Key achievements: Becoming the 1st Englishman to be hired in a truly Italian family sports brand. Successful completion of the football accessories collection. I managed the design and development process with 2 trips to China to oversee the development.
Reason for leaving: To take up the challenge of a wider role at Mitre.
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DECATHLON, France
- DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT
1991 - 1993
Product Categories: Running, hiking, tennis, casual, rock climbing
Key duties: Assisting the head of the footwear dept. in all sourcing, design & development issues. Regular travel to Asian & European development partners. Regular quality control visits to Asia & in-store.
Key achievements: Played a key role in Décathlon's 1st ever running shoe, with a 3 month development trip to ensure the development ambition was achieved + I oversaw the 1st production run. I learnt to speak French.
Reason for leaving: To travel around the world for a period of 1 year.
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E.G. HERBERTS
- SAMPLE CHASER / TRAINEE DESIGNER
1987 - 1987
Product Categories: Ladies fashion footwear
Key duties: Ensuring all sample requests were made on time and to a high level of quality, assisting head designer with pattern cutting, assisting head pattern cutter with production patterns ;
