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Product development specialist

Engineering & Production

Both creative and analytical, I am an apparel sourcing, design, and development professional  successfully designing and engineering high IMU product, driving cost savings, and executing vendor  strategies and negotiations while building close internal partnerships and processes.

FY21 met IMU goal despite Covid, and FY22 have already exceeded IMU goal by 5% and exceeded stretch 
 goal by over 100 bps despite an average of 43% alpha unit buy
 - Negotiated $24.6mil FOB dollars on $173.4mil reduced retail dollars for second half of FY21 which helped keep 
 business profitable through Covid with an 85.8% FOB IMU despite an average of 33% alpha unit buy
 - Introduced and onboarded a new vendor in Sri Lanka in order to expand our regional vendor base and reduce 
 the risk of being to heavily penetrated in one region
 - In conjunction with fabric team, responsibly sourced, negotiated, and platformed cotton-rich fabrics
 - Onboarding and managing one PD specialist, mentoring PD’s in other departments, as well as started a forum 
 called “PD Power Hour” where once a week PD specialists can share best-practices, provide feedback and 
 advice, and encourage/empower one another
 - Managed pre-development for embellished, washed, and long lead time styles

As one of the first hires on the new team, I had the privilege of interviewing and helping to build the team, 
 calendar, and PD process from the ground up
 - Helped to build a streamlined process using agent technologies such as Optitex, as well as vendor innovation 
 and intelligence, which cut product lead times from 90 days down to as low as 60 days, reduced internal 
 workload by 16%, and helped to track and enforce accountability for meeting milestone deadlines
 - Initiated fabric strategy and consolidation which brought baseline FOB prices down by as much as 36% and 
 ultimately helped my team to beat target costs
 - Relaunched the basic denim program by partnering with design to establish washes and basecloths, and 
 created a comprehensive vendor/mill matrix for ease of reorders
 - Chased into bestselling product, and sucessfully counter developed product categories once filled by domestic 
 market vendors effectively increasing internal brand penetration by 20%

Product development manager

Responsible for overseeing the design of a $421mil kids apparel business between several categories including playwear basics, fashion separates, denim, outerwear, sweaters, and active
Managing a design team of 7 designers and associate designers who are responsible altogether for 12 different brands
Interpret key company initiatives and filter direction down to my team, which helped to restore the apparel business to profitability in both Sears and Kmart
Give direction for Instagram layouts, editorial photoshoots, and store floorpads -which has instantly boosted in-store sales by as much as 40%
Setting expectations not only for seasonal checkpoints, but also for the personal growth of each of my employees
Managing cross functional relationships across all levels
Determine trend direction and “roadmap” calendar for my design team, while working with cross functional partners on planning and strategy for each season
Travel internationally to shop, research, and develop product as well as reinforce partnerships with international vendors; I have traveled to
London, L.A., New York, and Philadelphia for shopping and research, and I have traveled to India, Bangladesh, China, Hong Kong, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Vietnam for product development

Interim Design Director

Responsible for the design of an $80mil girls apparel business ranging from sizes 7-16
Increased the in-house design adoption rate from 30% to 75% within the first year of designing girls
Aside from in-house designs, I also work with vendors to provide inspiration and direction for vendor-owned design and innovation
Managing 1 designer and 1 associate designer who are responsible for the design of a $45mil infant & toddler girls apparel business
Realigned fit standards and created general block measurement sets with my technical partners to be used as general guidelines for in-house design, initial costing, and vendor designs
Successfully completed two new collaborations, one with L.A. Gear and another with Jaclyn Smith
Initiated the current process for trend and concept presentation, including physical set-ups, digital presentations, and videos

Senior Designer

Responsible for the design of the Bongo juniors label which includes basics, fashion separates, and dresses
Shop the U.S. markets as well as research international trends for concept and brand development
Helped facilitate the move and transition of teams from New York to San Francisco by on-boarding my teammates, teaching PLM, and assisting in multiple RTW categories
Designed a BTS collection that was featured in both WGSN and in the September issue of Teen Vogue

Designer

Interpreted women’s design initiatives and trends into baby and girls collections from 12mos-16yrs
Rigged entire rooms for concept and trend using bought samples and samples from the incredible Ralph Lauren archive library
Launched the girls active collection for CHAPS, and worked very closely with local New York sample rooms to create flawless salesman samples and exact fit standards
Worked faster and smarter to meet calendar deadlines that were previously unmet, supported teammates to do the same
Focused on knits and sweaters, and worked with highly skilled sweater technicians to develop and fit specialty sweater knits

Find out detailed information about Gabrielle Delzer, Product development specialist in Philadelphia, PA

Gabrielle Delzer: Product development specialist in Philadelphia, PA

Gabrielle Delzer

Parsons School of Design