•Eric Gaskins Golden Scissor Sportswear Designer of the Year Award 2005
•SCAD Fashion Show 2005, Tom Ford – Senior Menswear Collections Showcased; Critiques with Trina Turk, Eric Gaskins
•Venn Diagram Fashion Show; May 26, 2005 – Independent Event Production & Showcase of Work with 3 other designers
•SCAD Summer Seminar Savannah 2005, Fashion - Teacher’s Assistant in guiding high school students through a series of projects
•New York City Off-Campus Program 2005 - Fashion & Art History; Arranged meeting with Nanette Lepore for course
•Italy Off-Campus Program 2004 - Venice, Florence, Rome; Art History & Drawing
•SCAD Fashion Show 2003, Miuccia Prada – Model & training with Runway Coach J. Alexander from America’s Next Top Model

Bike

Golf

Dive

Creative Agencies

Fashion

Fishing

Lifestyle

Moto & Powersports

Outdoor

Skate

Snow

Streetwear

Surf

Swim

Tech

Triathlon

Wake

Yoga

Health & Fitness

Travel

Outdoors

Principal & Creative Director | Merchandising, Brand Development, Licensing, Product Development, Sourcing | SCAD Fashion B.F.A.  🐝  👕 👗 👟 🧢 👜

Top Management

Experienced Product Development Leader with a demonstrated history of working in the retail industry. Skilled in Trend Analysis, Textiles, Design, Product Assortment Planning and Merchandise Planning. 

Offering Consulting Services & Freelance Design across all categories of Consumer Products, including:  Fashion & Sportswear Apparel, Accessories & Footwear, Hardlines, Jewelry and more.

•Strategy: Analysis & Business Structure
•Trend: Market & Futures
•Design: Apparel & Accessories
•Technical Design: Specs, Construction & Fitting 
•Sourcing & Production: Manufacturer Connection & Execution to shipment

Principal & Creative Director

Oversaw Global Product Development, Design, Sourcing, Merchandising & Licensing for Global Hard Rock Cafe Rock Shop locations, Ecommerce and Hotel.

Brand Categories & Licenses:
•Hard Rock Softlines: Apparel, Headwear & Accessories for Men, Women and Kids
•Hard Rock Hardlines: Pins, Jewelry, Home, Gift, Drinkware, Plush
•Guitar Hotel brand
•Messi x Hard Rock 
•Oracle Red Bull Racing x Hard Rock 
•Global Regional Requests & Activations, including Licensee Agreements 
•Marketing Activations at Cafe level, including: International Women’s Month, Pride, Pinktober (BCA) & World Burger Tour
•Entertainment Collaborations
•Artists Spotlight
•Procure Products for Internal Customers: Marketing, Giveaway & Promotional, Global Sales Office & Property Merchandise Sales

Head of Global Product Development

Lead Design & Product Merchandising Team in developing seasonal collections in Men's, Women's and Kids' Dress, Casual & Athletic Footwear & Apparel across 18 brands for 720 stores globally & relaunch into USA market.

•Implemented processes in Global Product Team & new roles
•Developed Business Strategy for Collaborations & Marketing launch
•Rebranded Existing Private Brands & Global Launch L.A. Gear
•Managed License Agreements & Product Design Process across Disney, Marvel, Nickelodeon, Airwalk, American Eagle, L.A. Gear

Senior Director, Global Product

Oversaw Creative Direction, Design and Development team for Meijer Own Brands sold at 240+ stores for $22bn retailer: Men’s and Boys’ Sportswear, Active, Outdoor, Outerwear, Swim and Sleepwear.

•Achieved +10% volume growth YOY in new category and comp businesses
•Transitioned team to Direct Sourcing model driving +2k BPS increase
•Implemented Fit Blocks to achieve Fit Approval by 2nd Sample
•Designed, Sourced & Manufactured Distributed Tour Apparel for annual Meijer LPGA Classic: Volunteer & Staff Shirts, Player Shirts and Capsules also sold in-store
•Resigned July 2019 to pursue new opportunities

Design Director Men’s & Boys Softlines

•Lead team of 30 across CAD/Design/Fabric/Technical/Trend/QA; Women’s, Men’s, Kids, Baby
•Partnered with 4 DMMs & Sourcing Director to drive Softlines Strategy
•Reduced Calendar by 10 weeks and established Overseas Finalization 
•Launched PLM Integration for Buyers & Planners to execute POs

Director, Product Development

Oversaw creative direction, design and development for private label brands of Sports Authority sold at 475+ stores nationwide.  Apparel, Accessories and Footwear design and development across Men's, Women's and Kids.

•Rebuilt business to $150+ Million volume across 10+ Private Brands
•Established Vendor Matrix with Factory Direct & Domestic vendors
•Launched Women's Plus Size Active & Outdoor Apparel in 2015 sold in 200+ stores & online
•Grew Footwear by +20% sku increase through direct manufacturing
•Managed Team of Creative & Tech Designers & Materials Process
•Drove Merchant relations to execute seasonal initiatives & growth

Private Brands:
Alpine Design - outdoor
Aspire - fitness & lifestyle
Bloom - yoga & lifestyle
Classic Sport - soccer 
Oxide - surf & swim
S.A. Gear - youth apparel
SIMS - snowboard
Slalom - snow sports
Tommy Armour - golf 
Trayl - bike

Speaking Events:

Omnishopper 2015
July 2015
Private Brand Symposium; 
‘Designing Into Consumer Trend: Athleisure & Private Brand’

AATCC 'Moisture Management Symposium; Enhancing Product Performance from Absorbency to Repellency'​
October 2014
College of Textiles - North Carolina State University; Raleigh, North Carolina USA 
‘Staying Dry in a Wet World: How Water Repellency and Resistance can offer a Competitive Advantage in the Marketplace'

Director, Product Development Design & Sourcing

Designed Seasonal Collections for Callaway Golf apparel across 5 channels of distribution; Green Grass (Pro Shop), Specialty Sporting Goods, Department Store, Off Price, Corporate Sales.

•Outerwear and Technical garment Design and development launching Weather Series Technical Outerwear Category
•Concept and Design development for Green Grass line based from Runway & Fashion trends
•Develop Seasonal Callaway Off Price and Corporate assortments

Associate Designer, Callaway

Designed Apparel, Accessories and Footwear across 6 Private Brands in Active, Fishing, Golf, Outdoor, Outerwear & Tennis, including Nike ACG Outdoor & Reebok licenses sold at 500+ stores nationwide.

•Print and Textile Pattern Development and CAD Line Presentation books for Milestone meetings to support concept
•Market trend research to profile brand positioning against competitors and interpret trend into commercial designs
•Created Flat and Detail Sketches for all to hand off to technical designers for communication to factory
•Attended Fittings and Approve final fit in partnership with Technical Design and provide feedback to finalize product
•Merchandise & present seasonal collections to buyers & executives to confirm go-forward initiatives
•Store Visits with Buyers and Design Team to evaluate In-Store Execution vs. competitors and opportunities

Positions Held:
Associate Designer; Nike ACG Men’s Outdoor apparel & outerwear, Field & Stream Fishing; March 2010 - June 2010
Associate Designer; Nike ACG Men’s Outdoor apparel & outerwear; January 2009 - March 2010
Assistant Designer, Reebok Women’s & Girl’s Athletic, Umbro Soccer; January 2008-09          
Assistant Designer, Walter Hagen Men‘s Golf and Slazenger Tennis; July 2007 - January 2008

Associate Designer

9 years of Retail Field experience, beginning my career with Gap in High School and continuing on to Banana Republic in College.  This experience has been instrumental in my success in Corporate Retail in translating successful product launches and partnership with Visual Merchandising & Store Ops teams for impactful product presentations to the Customer.

•Visual Merchandiser, Banana Republic 2002-7 (Savannah, Pittsburgh)
•Assistant Merchandising Manager GAP, GAPbody, GAPKids, babyGAP 2000-1 (Pittsburgh)
•Worked in multiple regions and divisions, incl. Old Navy(Pittsburgh, Hyannis, Savannah)
•Regional Store Opening Team Western PA, Ohio, WV
•Store Opening Team for Gap Mall of America 2001

Visual Merchandiser & Sales

Bradley McIlrath is a Principal & Creative Director at House of IKE in Miami Beach, Florida.

Bradley McIlrath

Bradley McIlrath

Skills

Interests

Industries

Education history

Savannah College of Art and Design