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Design Director

Top Management

Resourceful and innovative fashion industry professional with specialized expertise in brand development and
growth. A multi-faceted industry veteran with experience in Men's Tailored and Sportswear design. Providing
innovative design - textile and garment, and creative solutions in the fast paced world of fashion.

Robert Barakett is a premium men's sportswear brand focused on high-quality manufacturing using the finest soft knit and woven fabrics in a city-cool aesthetic.

In my role, I am responsible for overseeing brand positioning, including devising creative strategies and leading the end-to-end development of new product lines to create competitive distinctiveness and establish a strong, authentic, and high-level brand. While doing this, I ensure that I remain within the allotted budget. Through my initiatives, I have successfully positioned RB on top of leading competitor brands, such as Hugo, Boss, Kors, and Zachary Prell, through high sale-through rates and brand appeal.

Managing the fashion aspect of the product line, I transformed the t-shirts and basics into a total, fashionable collection. I completed monthly deliveries and introduced new designs based on seasons and consumer insights. This has increased the fashion aspect of the brand by over 150%, which subsequently boosted sales by over 570% from 2019 to 2021. By building a committee to redesign the company website, I was able to bring over 2500% growth in revenue and traffic, amplifying the weekly sales.

By influencing the entire line design direction, our biggest customer, Nordstrom, has expanded our reach by 20 doors for fashion items and 50 doors for replenishment fashion items, increasing the overall SKU count by 35% in all doors. As a result, Nordstrom positioned the company as its top-tier partner-level brand. Some of my other contributions include increasing the bookings of the brand’s specialty store and continuously expanding the brand by introducing new lines, collections, and variants all under the same label.

• Directing and executing all creative design of Vince Camuto Tailored. Spearheading all facets of tailored design - Trend analysis, Market research, textile and garment design, and performance R&D.

• Developed Itochu Prominent's Performance umbrella division R.S.G and, currently, in charge of growing. R.S.G (Ready Set Go) is Itochu Prominent's latest research into the future of garment and textile design. A bastion of the latest in Men's Spring and Fall performance wear throughout Tailored, Sportswear, and Dress Shirts. Our most innovative products are all imagined and developed within this division that was created by myself, in conjunction with Men's Group director.

• Lead and oversee creative strategy across all licensed brands throughout multiple classifications. Maintaining creative synergy across multiple classifications to retain each licensed brand's core identity throughout Tailored, Sportswear, and Dress Shirts. Ensuring each brand's positioning is accurate and product offerings are wholly unique to that brand.

• Director of internal marketing initiatives and Art design. Envisioning and designing marketing campaigns for new R.S.G products. Providing art direction and design, content strategy, video marketing narratives, and working with external videographers to execute campaigns under budget and on time.

• Head of textile R&D and trend analysis in seasonal fabric design. Traveling across Asia and Europe to source and research the latest in woven and knit textiles. Analyze viability of performance/synthetic yarns in context of fitting in brand identity and cost feasibility. Over 12 years of experience in textile yarns, finish techniques, printing techniques, across all price points, Natural and Synthetic: 100% Cashmere to performance polyesters.

• Developed and presented initial pitch for every current licensed Tailored brand. Initial design and marketing lead on Perry Ellis. Design Lead on Vince Cameo Tailored & Sportswear, Design and trend lead on Original Penguin tailored pitch to Creative Director. Received overwhelmingly positive feedback on immediately understanding each brand's core identity and voice.

Head of Product Development/Senior Designer/Creative Strategist

• Designed and merchandised the Perry Ellis tailored men's collection, bringing the first new collection to market in less than five months. Conducted extensive competitive market research to re-energize label with a fresh, young look that enhanced hanger appeal. Sourced, developed, and approved all trims & fabrics.
• Established and maintained a global sourcing network for fabrics & trims. Researching & buying from a matrix of vendors, for both woven and knit fabrics, across all price points. Experience in working with mills from countries such as: China, Thailand, India, Mexico, Turkey, Italy, Germany, South Korea, Japan, England, and domestic suppliers.
• Catapulted sales from $3 million to $14 million, revitalizing the line with new silhouettes, fits, fabrications, lining treatments, and trim details and introducing an array of modern textual weaves, playful colors, and plaids.
• Leveraged expertise in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to elevate the quality of customer presentations, swatch packages, and presentations and utilized technical skills for flat sketching, logo and label design, and other CAD projects.
• Received an excellent reception from licensor with buyers from Burlington Coat Factory, Men's Warehouse, Stein Mart, and other mass market retailers purchasing multiple styles while strong retail sell through generated a high volume of rebuys.

Associate Product Developer/ Associate Designer

Dheeraj Khanna is a Design Director at ROBERT BARAKETT in queens, NY. View their experience, skills and work history on Malakye — the professional network for…

Dheeraj Khanna — Design Director at ROBERT BARAKETT

Dheeraj Khanna

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