Mike Fischer: Creative Director in Fort Collins, CO

• Lead team in product of our day to day efforts of top level design, development, production, and logistics for top brands in the outdoor & active industry. • Design problem solving apparel, gear, and accessories • Work with vendor partners to achieve our target goals for price, quality, delivery, and capacities of development and production • Create merchandise plans that create higher revenue goals for brands, and a concise point of view for every product in the range • Brands include: Oakley, First Ascent/Eddie Bauer, Strafe, Flylow, Rawlings, Cirq, The Clymb, Western Rise, BLACKHAWK!, Asics, Burton, New Balance, Etc... • Design & develop seasonal apparel lines for leading Outdoor, Snow, Lifestyle, & Active brands • Consult on branding initiatives, Seasonal trend & color forecasting, consumer insights, & sourcing assistance. • Manage Sourcing & Production for multiple brands • Work with pro athletes & teams on product innovation initiatives - from the team field to Mt. Everest

• Design lead for the entire newly formed outdoor and technical outerwear category (Mountain / Hunt / Tactical). • Research, market, consumer, and trend forecasting, develop seasonal direction for category • Managed and implemented design creation process to guarantee product excellence and effectively build the brand and category. Category grew over 10x. • Manage seasonal freelance design team to ensure brand cohesiveness and collaborative direction of category • Collaborate with other apparel product teams (i.e. marketing, sales, athletes), and business units (i.e. footwear, team, in-line) to ensure continuity regarding design strategies and brand positioning.

• Design within all categories for O’Neill Men’s line • Technical design & development for industry leading board short program • Product research through research trips, trend analysis, product testing, & forecasting • Coordinated with Big Box buyers on all design issues for major SMU Projects

Managed Staff to handle design, development and production of footwear & apparel