New York NY , Salisbury CT
Email: donaldolivertwist@mac.com
Cell: 646 662 8680
Career History
April 2017-April 2020 JASON WU
New York
Creative director / VP of design
· Collaborating closely with Jason Wu on establishing clear codes of the house of Jason Wu including all license agreements.
· Seasonally creating the brand direction for both Jason Wu Collection and the contemporary collection Jason Wu. Working with each team to design and develop both collections. Jason Wu Collection being developed in the Atelier and Jason Wu being developed in China.
· Building a design team in Shanghai China to service the Joint Venture and designing a contemporary collection seasonally for Jason Wu stand alone stores in fashion malls across china.
· Working closely with Jason Wu and Architect Andre Mallone to design a retail concept for the brand to roll out to China and the USA.
· Building clear collection architecture for both collections in order to reduce development budgets and over development. Concentrating on establishing strong carry over fabrications and building on Jason Wu DNA.
· Recruiting and establishing the strongest design teams to support the vision of each brand.
Successfully relaunching the Jason Wu contemporary line with a more defined Aesthetic and point of view. Building a strong design process across each collection to reduce design and development budgets.
April 2015-February 2017 ELIZABETH AND JAMES
New York
Creative Director / VP of Design
· Collaborating with Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen to define and establish a new brand direction and aesthetic for Elizabeth and James.
· Creating the seasonal message and working with the team to design and develop four seasons annually.
· Recruiting and establishing the entire design and product development teams for the brand. Putting into place the design and development process for the brand.
· Working closely with Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen to create the first Elizabeth and James retail space at the Grove in Los Angeles. Working with vintage suppliers and third party vendors to create the Elizabeth and James lifestyle experience.
Successfully relaunching the Elizabeth and James brand and maintaining existing business while bringing the brand back in house.
February 2014-April 2015 CONSULTANT
February 2011- February 2014 J BRAND JEANS
Los Angeles, CA
Creative director
· Creative lead for the organization, from design to marketing, packaging and press, E-commerce and retail. Leading the several design teams in creating seasonal collections in women's / men’s and the launch of women's/ men's ready-to-wear.
· Defined and established an elevated, contemporary aesthetic for the brand.
· Launched a 120-piece collection of ready-to-wear that sold through in retailers globally including Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman, Selfridges, Montaigne Market, Net-A-Porter, 10 Corso Como, Isetan, Hankyu and Lane Crawford amongst others.
· Launched the first men’s ready to wear collection for fall 14.
· Created a presence for the brand for the first time during NY fashion week with a presentation on models attended by senior international editors and, which featured on holding pages of US vogue.com, style.com, WWD.com, The London Times, La Repubblica and others.
· Recruited a new creative team for advertising campaigns that elevated the brand image, working with stylist Karl Templer, photographer Craig McDean and models including Suvi Koponen and Sam Rollinson to create a luxury and fashion relevant positioning for the brand that build desire amongst customers and whose look and feel has subsequently influenced competitors in the market place.
· Created seasonal product ideas, including product names, with editorial messaging and drove market support for them, e.g. ‘The Little Black Jean’, ‘Photo Ready Jeans’, ‘The Stocking Jean’.
· Created a concept for J Brand’s first ‘store’ in the world at Selfridges, the largest and highest profile space on the denim floor (the largest denim floor in the world) that created an environment that expressed the brand’s target positioning of contemporary luxury through the materials and fixtures chosen, creating the ground work for the strategy for J Brands free-standing stores.
· Opening the first J Brand stores in Japan in Hankyu and Isetan, driving the look and feel of the stores as well as acting as the brand spokesperson with press.
· Re-designing the J Brand E commerce website to reflect the modern contemporary brand aesthetics launching fall 15.
· Acted as the spokesperson for the brand at the bi-annual press events and hosted dinners for press and influencers in New York, LA, London, Paris, Milan, and Tokyo.
Successfully re-positioning the brand from LA jeans brand to global fashion brand.
July 08 - September 11 GREY MATTER DESIGN
New York/Connecticut
Owner of Grey Matter Design
Created a Lifestyle brand targeting fashion and Home design and incorporating both vintage sourced and original designs.
· Selected an initial retail location to develop the brand. Work as a consultant with customers on home and interior decoration using the Grey Matter design aesthetic.
May 07- June 08. DKNY JEANS INTERNATIONAL
New York, NY
VP of design for DKNY JEANS.
· Leading the design team for the DKNY brand Internationally. Building and developing a strong seasonal men’s, women’s and accessories collections for the European and Asian markets for retail and wholesale distribution.
· Creating a new Brand identity for DKNY with European and Asian relevance including new branding and in-store messaging.
· Working with Donna Karan to align on brand identity and product integrity.
· Partnering with Europe and Asian marketing and PR teams to show the seasonal collections to retail and wholesale distribution.
Successfully re-launching the DKNY JEANS brand into the Asian and European markets with sales increasing season upon season.
2006- 2007 VERA WANG
New York, NY
VP of Design
· Head of Design for Simply Vera brand. VP of the casual-wear within the Vera Wang organization, working with Collection and the Lavender sub-brand.
· Building and developing the first seasonal collections for Simply Vera label at Kohl’s department store for all categories: apparel, underwear, sleepwear, accessories, shoes, intimates and jewelry.
· Work in close collaboration with Advertising agencies and the Kohl’s organization to create the lifestyle point of view of the Simply Vera collection and launch.
Efforts resulting in Kohl’s department stores most successful launch ever. Creating a building block for the future seasonal collections as an ongoing designer brand within Kohl’s stores nation wide.
2004- 2006 GAP inc.
New York, NY
VP of design for GAP international
· Head of design for Gap brand’s international business (all markets outside the US). Designing and developing elevated seasonal collections for men’s, women’s and accessories.
· Creatively directing and managing all design teams in apparel and accessories, giving a clear vision for the season and following through execution. Ensuring that across all divisions there was a brand point of view and a coherent seasonal message.
· Partnering with the merchandising teams to ensure to answer their commercial needs and build the brand.
Creating the building block for the international structure of the Gap brand and increasing the first positive Comp Sales in the international markets.
2003 - 2004 MARC BY MARC JACOBS
New York, NY
· Denim consultant for Marc by Marc Jacobs and collection.
· Consulting and developing complete collections of denim and denim related product for the Marc by Marc Jacobs line, as well as a range of elevated fabric finishes for Marc Jacobs’s main line collection.
2003 - 2004 PHI COLLECTION
New York, NY
· Denim casual wear consultant-women’s denim related product
· Designing and developing denim and washed products for the PHI ready-to-wear collection.
1998 – 2003 CALVIN KLEIN inc.
New York, NY
Design director- jeans and casual wear
· Responsible for determining the direction of jeans and casual wear Lines seasonally.
· Working closely with Calvin Klein to build the identity of the jeans brand and CK one in product design, marketing and advertising.
1994–1998 LEVI STRAUSS UK.
London, UK
Senior product development designer-men’s and women’s
Forecasting color, trends and directions, as well as reporting on lifestyle trends for the Levi's Brand globally. Collaborating on and designing product for the brand’s global music partnerships with performers including Jamiroquai, Lauren Hill and Oasis, amongst others.
1992-1994 City Swingers London, UK
Senior designer/studio manager
1989-1992 Jonny-Q. Italy/London
Senior designer
1987-1989 Quito Clothing Company London
Senior Designer
Education
1983-1986 Harare Polytechnic/art school Zimbabwe
B.A. degree in Graphic design and design for print.
City and Guilds- design for print
6 o’levels.
Fashion illustration, Pottery, Interior design