I was fortunate to be part of the Design and Product Development team at Tea Collection. Part of the company's creative process involves to travel around the world to get inspired and absorb by the local culture. The Design team went shopping at local markets, then returned to our headquarters with new trends, distinctive textiles, and anything else that could serve as inspiration for the collection. Since the business relies heavily on prints and graphics, it was crucial to produce printed bottoms like the skirt from our Bolivia campaign below.
As a Designer, it was my responsibility to produce precise CADs for every style that was going to be used over the season. On the left, you can see a technical CAD for the skirt on the left campaign image. Construction call-outs must be sent out for the final stages of manufacturing therefore, attention to detail was crucial. Communication and collaboration with the Technical and Production team was key to execute a high quality product that reflected the brand’s vision.
The above campaign was from Tea’s Japan Collection. Lots of traditional prints and silhouettes were brought back from our trip from Japan.
My main responsibility was to provide fresh looks and silhouettes for the collection. Above we can see iterations proposed to the Director and later on, edited in order to better fit our vision. I also designed many versions based on our best-selling styles. I aimed to design considering current trends and incorporating the Japanese aesthetic from our trip to Japan. The team embraced and modified a variety of new and current styles to meet our production and budgetary requirements.
Once, the line was edited and silhouettes or styles were selected, I had to create Style Sheets per each style. To determine what made that piece unique, it was essential to document all of the new styles imported from Japan. This was key in order to build inspiration boards with construction call-outs and collaborate with graphic designers to include new graphics and prints. Line editing was essential to the line as it had to be done in a cost-effective way.
Above you can see some of the styles and iterations that were initially sketched out. The objective was to create a silhouette that was easy to wear, comfortable, and would last the entire season. These styles turned out to be the company’s "Bread and butter" silhouettes which in translated into increase in yearly sales.