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Lawrence (XL) Gay
3363 Sedgwick Avenue 4C
Bronx NY 10463
(516) 633-0236

WORK EXPERIENCES:

XLLENT SHOES, Bronx, NY November 2008 – October 2010
Creative Director-Founder

Designed footwear and work with agents from China and Italy to develop product.
Shop the market to capture trends/materials and pricing.
Manage all phases of product development.
Maintained initial concept to uphold the image of company.
Create seasonal mood boards to identify product needs by category.
Set projection due dates and monitored deadlines to insure timely finished goods deliveries.
Handle and coordinate store accounts
Oversee sales and distribution of product, to our selected account base.
Work in conjunction with marketing/advertising affiliations for the product placement and marketing reasons.

Freelance -FOOTWEAR DESIGNER – PAID PER PROJECT
January 2003- Present

Freelanced designed and consulted for various shoe companies. (Steve Madden, Alec Footwear, Perlina Footwear, Heatherette, Foremost Footwear, Cezer Footwear)

BCNY International, Hicksville, NY. March 2007 – September 2008
Female Footwear Designer

Held responsible for entire product design process from market research, creating mood board, sketching/cadding, and “specking”.
Researched and travel global markets; in order to identify new trends, fabrics, techniques, etc.
Provided recommendations regarding seasonal themes, and edits to line, new concepts, etc.
Participated in the conceptual development of product line.
Traveled to Asia to work with technical designers to ensure that product is accurate and completed in a timely manner.
Conducted quality and fit sessions, for final approval of samples and production.
Managed Public Relations and product placement of product for marketing purposes.

XL Connections Unlimited LLC, Norwalk, CT. – Retail/Wholesale June 2002 – June 2005
Retailer -Creative Director -Footwear Designer

Owned and managed a women shoe boutique.
Attended tradeshows to shop for new product seasonally.
Monitored costs to meet defined margin objectives.
Overseen seasonal re-order process.
Executed and maintained the visual appearance of store and all products displayed.
Recruited and trained new personnel,to achieve profitable sales.
Directed in the education and awareness of loss prevention.
Continued with all responsibilities as Creative Director and Designer for Wholesale division.
Freelanced designed and consulted for various shoe companies. (Steve Madden, Alec Footwear and Perlina Footwear )

XL Connections Unlimited LLC, Stamford, CT. -Wholesale March 1999 – June 2002
Creative Director-Founder

Designed footwear and worked with agents from South America to develope product.
Shopped the market to capture trends/materials and pricing.
Managed all phases of product development.
Maintained initial concept to uphold the image of company.
Created seasonal mood boards to identify product needs by category.
Attended product design meetings and provided merchant feedback.
Set projection due dates and monitored deadlines to insure timely finished goods deliveries.
Handle and coordinated all store accounts
Controlled sales and distribution of product, to our selected account base.
Worked in conjunction with marketing/advertising affiliations for the product.

Nine West Group Incorporated, White Plains, NY
September 1996 – July 1999
Product Development- Sample Room Manager/ Design Assistant.

Worked on product and managed Sample Room.
Monitored brokers daily and check on incoming samples from our global agents.
Managed and distributed samples to all Sales Representatives
Worked closely with the product development team (designer and line builders)
Created conceptual and sketched product in the dress shoe division.
Detailed line with line builder and our agents from Asia and South America

Product Development-Sample Room Assistant

Ordered samples from our international and domestic factories.
Sent out shoe samples for advertising purposes.
Maintained our invoices billed to customers on samples.
Managed sample inventory.
Worked with the product development team (designers and line builders).
Inspected shoes for QC and conducted fit test.
Assembled all line and spec sheets.
Collaborated in sketching and color rendering.
Organized and set up for all regional and national shoe shows.
Maintained showrooms.

Corporate Services

Responsible for incoming and outgoing packages.
Coordinated package internal distribution.
Routed sales reports to Nine West stores
Tracked product for employees.

EDUCATION:

Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, NY
Major: Accessory Design (concentrating on Shoe Design)
September 1997 – May 2003

Berkeley College, New York, NY
Major: Product Development
September 1995 – May 1996

COMPUTER SKILLS:

Adobe Illustrator CS, Adobe PhotoShop CS, Internet, Windows (00’,07’), Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and Lotus (123, AmiPro, Lotus Notes)

INTERESTS:

Art, Fashion, Music, Travel and reading.