More Information

Experience

Founder/Co-Owner/ Head Designer,
Stephanie Estrada Collection - San Diego, CA January 2015-Present
• -Manage and maintain all aspects of the business
• -Research & analyze fashion, color, fabrications & market trends
• -Source fabric & trims
• -Create mood boards
• -Conceptualize, design and illustrate 7 piece contemporary womenswear collection
•-Develop tech packs & samples
• - Communicate with vendors & manufacturers on a daily basis
- Develop marketing strategies
-Organize model castings
-Coordinate photo shoots
-Photo editing photoshoot images
-Organizing all aspects of social media & e-mail marketing

Self-Employed/ Freelance Designer,
Stephanie Estrada Design - San Diego, CA June 2011-Present
• -Illustrating designs for custom apparel utilizing hand sketching & Adobe Illustrator.
• -Creating custom made, special occasion apparel for private clients.
• -Developing flats & line sheets; sourcing fabrics & trims.
• -Designed & produced avant-gard pieces for a local charity fashion show.

Freelance Costume Designer
Disguise Inc. Poway, CA Sept 2014-Nov 2014
• -Creating tech packs, flats & technical specs for a variety of styles
• -Creating styles in line with proprietary & licensed style guidelines
• -Working closely with samples department, pre-production, and graphic design department to ensure a high quality product
• -Communicating with venders & factories on pre-production & production samples
• -Sourcing fabrics & trims for various styles
• -Presenting various concepts & prototypes for upper management approval

Costume Designer,
Disguise Inc. Aug 2010 to May 2011
• -Lead designer on proprietary adult costume line. Utilized trend forecast & analyzed trends to translate contemporary design trends into innovative costumes.
• -Created mood boards, sketches and product prototypes throughout the conceptual design process.
• -Partnered with senior management to refine concepts, materials, graphics, & color palette for several costume lines.
• -Responsible for timeline adherence; ensuring that all elements of the prototype samples were ready for pre-production, product presentation & finalization. Ensuring staff completes projects on timeline.
• -Partner cross-functionally with Merchandising, Costing, Sourcing, & Product Development on a regular basis. Participate in meetings with cross-functional category partners.
• -Created technical packs for Samples and attended daily fittings to ensure quality in fit and to 9505/Safety compliancy.

Freelance Designer,
Kai Yee Halloween Costume Manufacturer Oct 2009 to March 2010
• -Designed Halloween Costumes for Men, Women & Children for the 2011 Halloween season.
• -Created technical packs for costume production.
• -Corresponded with sample makers to create first samples through final samples.
• -Sourced fabrics and trims.
• -Researched costume inspiration from many cultures, historical to current.

Freelance Designer,
Escante Oct 2008 to Feb 2010
• -Designed contemporary Halloween costumes for women, for the 2010 Halloween season.
• -Researched many themes such as historical costume, high fashion as well as all aspects of pop culture for costume inspiration.
• -Illustrated technical flats for each costume utilizing Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop.
• -Assisted in final costume fittings.
• -Corresponded with sample makers/production companies in China & Taiwan.
• -Sourced fabrics and trims.
• -Attended monthly production & sales meetings in San Antonio to finalize lingerie & costume collections.

Education

Associate of the Arts, Fashion Design 2005-2007
The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Los Angeles, CA

Skills & Abilities

Creative Design
•
-Created multiple collections for different markets, utilizing creative design.
•-Illustrated fashion figures in full color with markers as well as with Adobe Photoshop, to interpret concepts into actual garments
•-Developed theme pages and merchandise pages
•-Utilized color and texture, consulted trend forecasting resources for inspiration, and forecasted trends for future seasons

Technical Design
•
-Prepared and organized technical packs with flat drawings produced through Adobe Illustrator
•-Created and graded patterns by hand and with the Gerber program
•-Utilized costing and specification sheets for finalized patterns

Collection Development
•
-Utilized draping and pattern drafting skills to design and produce a cohesive collection
•-Developed samples and solved fitting problems
•-Intermediate fabric knowledge; sourced fabric and trims

Trend Research & Analysis
•
-Researched many themes such as historical costume, high fashion as well as all aspects of pop culture for costume inspiration
•-Completed field research at social events for fashion inspiration and to analyze needs of perspective clients

Additional Abilities
•
Proficient in Microsoft Office.
•Fluent in English and Spanish.
•Web PDM.

Collection Development, Creative Design Analysis & Development, Creative Design Analysis, Intermediate Patternmaking, CAD I (Adobe Illustrator), CAD II (Adobe Photoshop)