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Apparel

Michael Fischer

  • images: 60
  • views: 11684
  • date: 10-3-16
Innovative Senior Designer/director, driven to create new business for brands looking to break into new categories, or revamp their current collections. Specializing in technical and fashion forward apparel, for the Outdoor & Action Sports industry
  • Region(s):
  • Midwest, Northwest, Northern CA, International, All Regions

First Ascent for Eddie Bauer

First Ascent for Eddie Bauer X
Was hired by Eddie Bauer to initiate their new category of technical mountaineering apparel for men's and women's, to bring them back to be a credible mountain outdoor brand, in which principles they were originally founded upon.

Strafe Outerwear

Strafe Outerwear X
Was brought in by Strafe to design, develop, source, and produce their outerwear ranges. We worked with our sources for materials, paired them with one of our great factories that had the ability to work with Polartec Neoshell fabric, that is troubl

Oakley Snow

Oakley Snow X
Was hired by Oakley to design & develop their snow outerwear, mid-layers and apparel, hats, gloves, bags, and accessories. I worked doing this for 3 years.

Western Rise - FlyFish lifestyle

Western Rise - FlyFish lifestyle X
Was hired by Western Rise to partner to design and launch their new performance-lifestyle apparel brand. Was responsible for trend, material/factory sourcing, design, development, and production of their range for multiple seasons.

Tactical / Law enforcement / Military

Tactical / Law enforcement / Military X
Few samples from Under Armour and BLACKHAWK! tactical ranges, as worked with both brands for many years (at different times) to develop their collections.

Cirq - The Clymb private label

Cirq - The Clymb private label X
The online retailer, The Clymb, asked me to create a new brand for them to sell as their private label, so we created CIRQ. Responsibilities includes trend research, line creation, materials & factory sourcing, design/development/production

  • Category

    Apparel

  • Market Segments

    Mens
    Womens

  • Specialties

    Technical Outerwear
    Performance activewear
    modern streetwear
    authentic heritage styling

  • Years of Experience

    15

  • Availability

    Freelance

  • Relocation

    Yes

  • Technologies

    Illustrator
    Photoshop
    Draping & fitting

  • Schools/Training

    FIDM
    Colorado State University

  • Social

More Information

Michael Fischer
Fort Collins, CO
949-374-4382
mike@werxdesign.com

Objective: To use my experienced business & design skills to create innovative and fashion forward collections to drive trends and sales for the long-term success of a strong brand in the Outdoor & Action Sports Industry.

Skill Set

* Brand management & Direction
* Innovative Apparel & Gear Design
* Technical Outerwear Design& Development
* Bag & Gear Design & Development
* Trim / Print / Art Design and Production
* Staff Mgmt/Leadership training
* Product Merchandising & Direction
* Trend analysis & forecasting
* Extensive travel for trade and factory work
* Technical Textile Development
* International Business Relations
* Vendor costing & negotiations
* Line plan creation & Management
* Viral marketing campaigns
* Category planning, maintaining, & margin analysis

Educational Background
Colorado State University 2000 - B.A. in Business/Commercial Recreation & Tourism
James Cook University, Australia 1999- Studied AUS practices of business and international relations

Computer Applications: Adobe Creative Suite, Mac, PC, MS Office, Patterning software

Employment History:
Creative Director – WERX Design Firm 04/05 - Present

* Design & develop seasonal apparel lines for leading outdoor & Action Sports companies
* Design & develop technical outerwear, apparel, bag & gear, graphics, and accessories for clients
* Consult on branding initiatives, Seasonal trend & color forecasting, consumer insights, & sourcing assistance.
* Work with professional athletes & teams on product innovation initiatives - from Mt. Hood to Mt. Everest
* Factory/trim/fabric Sourcing & production management for emerging brands or expanding brands

Director of Design – Marker Ltd 04/09 - 11/10

* Responsible for complete Brand & Design redirection, to bring up to date, refocus, & target new audiences
* Design & develop seasonal collections of technical outerwear to base layers
* Factory / vendor / material sourcing, cost negotiations, line merchandising & planning, trend analysis
* Leader for Design, Development, Sourcing, Marketing, Production & Warranty departments

Senior Designer : Outdoor – Under Armour Performance Apparel 07/06-04/08

* 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 has grown 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.

Men’s Designer – O’Neill Clothing Co. 6/04 –08/05

* Design within all categories for O’Neill Men’s line
* Technical design & development for industry leading boardshort program
* Product research through research trips, trend analysis, product testing, & forecasting
* Worked with buyers on all design issues for major accounts such as Pacsun & Zumiez

Product Line Manager - Emu Australia footwear 1/04 – 6/04

* Designed and developed new styles, including new categories to line offering
* Coordinated and designed SMU’s for other companies (Billabong, Rip Curl, Alloy)
* Lead and re-organized staff to be more efficient and productive in operations

Creative Director– SeasonFive Clothing Co. 1/01 – 06/04

* Manage all aspects of design through production for entire Men’s line
* Design print advertisement campaigns in domestic & international industry magazines.
* Design bi-annual catalog for seasonal line with domestic & international distribution, coordinate international photo shoots.
* Hired and managed sales rep force, coordinated trade show presence, POP display creation.

* Business Manager/Buyer - The Wright Life, Fort Collins, CO 1/02 – 07/02
* Senior Sales Supervisor - Copper Mountain Resort, CO 10/00 – 8/01

Relevant Experiences

* Taught high school classes on design, for the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising• Taught and participated in NOLS courses in leadership and Wilderness EMT
* Lived and traveled in multiple continents, including Asia, Europe, S. Pacific, and S. America.
* Volunteered as inner city youth mentor through S.O.S snowboarding trips and activities.

Awards:

* 2009 APEX Design Award for First Ascent Polartec Fleece Jacket
* 2009 Backpacker Magazine "Best All-Around" jacket, for First Ascent lightweight down sweater
* 2009 Backpacker Magazine "Best Bargain" jacket, for First Ascent BC100 2.5 Layer Fully welded jacket

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