Onassis Clothing

As Creative Director overseeing all global creative aspects in design, product development, marketing, and visual, this was my first challenge in leading a team both creatively and operationally. Joining the Onassis team was like ‘investing in a fixer-upper’. It had potential but it needed a lot of work. As a startup, Onassis had no formal design and product development systems in place. Their raw material supplier and sourcing database needed to be expanded. My inherited team had freshman experience with designing, merchandising collections, and in-store visual merchandising. The company’s manufacturing goal was to be 100% vertical so production processes needed to be systemized and optimized. With its vertical production experience only in producing bottoms and a deficiency in manufacturing other categories, i.e. tailored and outerwear, quality standards and protocols on construction, processes, execution, and quality for assorted categories needed to be established. As the first Creative Director of Onassis, I assumed the responsibility of achieving all the above. With a team of 20 based in New York and China, I spearheaded the design and execution of seasonal product, brand marketing, merchandising and in-store visual for 4 domestic and international retail doors, including Tokyo.