Creative Director / Co-Founder

Creative & Design

Seasoned Senior Footwear Designer and Product Development Manager with over 25 years of experience providing product
design and technical leadership in the footwear industry. Extensive experience driving multibillion-dollar footwear enterprises,
leveraging technical production knowledge, sourcing international materials and factory connections, while maintaining a strong
local network of design professionals from early industry beginnings. Dynamic, forward-thinking professional with a unique ability to
oversee the full life cycle product development of dress/casual shoes, while being able to flexibly pivot to sneaker/athletic
footwear production, sourcing, and product design. Successfully conducts domestic and international market research that drives
consistent revenue. Continually exceeds expectations by building valuable relationships and works well with people at all levels of
an organization including stakeholders, executive management, team members, vendors, and clients.

Co-founding and managing an athleisure apparel lifestyle brand, while maintaining responsibility for all aspects of creative
direction, from sourcing, merchandising, design to presentations to commercialization.
• Successfully developing and producing all aspect of marketing, from photoshoots to social media.
• Developing and managing the brand E- Commerce web site.

• Creating, designing, developing, tech fitting, and merchandising all aspects of Apana, Layer 8, and Skora footwear.
• Successfully developing and producing a new athletic footwear venture for apparel private brands at Adjmi/IFG.
• Driving development from concept including trend boards/materials/colors to sketches, presentations, and preproduction.
• Sourcing new factory and agent sourcing, pricing, merchandising, and materials procurement for the athletic category.
• Presenting the collection and working directly with buying team to guide, determine, and negotiate competitive prices.
• Collaborating with senior management to develop seasonal design products with appropriate margin for target customers.
• Directing and providing technical support to overseas design teams and technicians from conception to production.

Senior Designer Director/Merchandiser

• Created, designed, developed, tech fitting and merchandised all aspects of LF/Life, L4L.
• Managed a 2 people design team.
• Developed contemporary footwear with competitive pricing through negotiations with local production footwear facilities.
• Created and executed merchandising plans for all brands including executing fashion photoshoots and social media.
• Working with leather, fabrics, and PU suppliers internationally including agents and factories in Brazil, India, Italy, and China.
• Drove YoY customer engagement growth by creating unique photoshoots and a branding campaign that increased views.

Creative Design Director

• Oversaw all design elements from concept to final product for M4D3/Groove and Sudini and private labels
• Managed the design team of 4 people to oversee all brands in contemporary, junior, athletic, and performance footwear.
• Created trend boards for materials/colors and designed, executed, and merchandised all aspects of M4D3 footwear.
• Re-launched Sudini Comfort brand, oversaw the designed Groove footwear, and oversaw all branded
• Presented the collection working directly with the buying team to guide on pricing, deliveries, and final merchandise.

Creative Director

• Oversaw the re-design, recreate, and re-launch of Kelsi Dagger, transforming it into KDB - Kelsi Dagger Brooklyn.
• Drove all design elements from conception to final product including trend research, sourcing factories, sketching,
presentation, price, tech fitting and pre-production.
• Contributed to KDB becoming the most important brand on the PLV portfolio to be acquired by Millennium Brands.
• Performed extensive market research and competitive analysis to better communicate product value proposition.
• Created product branding and positioning through unique photoshoot visuals to differentiate footwear niche in market.

Senior Line Builder/Head Designer - KDB

• Drove all design elements while managing a 4-person team responsible for $6M in licensed branded revenue.
• Maintained constant communication with Far East agents from development to production stages for all designs.
• Traveled to Asian and European markets to oversee all product development with multiple agents and forecast trends.

Senior Line Builder/Head Designer

Line Builder/Designer

Find out detailed information about maide graebin, Creative Director / Co-Founder in Brooklyn, NY

maide graebin: Creative Director / Co-Founder in Brooklyn, NY

maide graebin