Samantha Aprea
Freelance Apparel Designer · Self-Employed
Boston, MAIn My Own Words
I am an authentic designer with 15+ years of diverse experience in women’s and men’s apparel, seamlessly blending form and function for consumer-relevant designs in the sportswear, outerwear, and activewear markets. I use my in-depth experience in color, fabric, and product development combined with hands-on skills in patternmaking, prototyping, and testing to bring a premium but practical taste level to the product. I am skilled at managing internal and external teams through calendar-based design and development cycles. I am a thoughtful and empathetic leader dedicated to balancing company goals with vendor needs to create successful working relationships. I am currently available for full-time, freelance, and contract positions. Send me a message!
For work samples, please visit https://www.coroflot.com/samantha_aprea.
Work Experience
Freelance Apparel Design & Development
Self-Employed2023 – Present
I do freelance apparel design & development work for clients in the performance, athleisure, & lifestyle industries.
Senior Apparel & Accessories Designer
Saucony2022 – 2023
I owned design processes for men’s & women’s running and lifestyle apparel categories, closely collaborating with technical design and product development teams to align design intent with garment construction & quality while meeting our target margin of 50%.
Apparel Product Developer
Bauer Hockey2021 – 2022
Owned the end-to-end product & material development processes for performance baselayer, lifestyle, & next-to-skin accessories, managing mill & factory relationships while partnering with overseas sourcing & production teams to maintain consistency, cost-efficiency, & quality.
Freelance Apparel Designer
New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc.2019 – 2020
As a contract apparel designer for New Balance, I worked on designs for the Women's Running & Performance categories, which includes fashion, trend, and value capsules to meet the needs of the generational New Balance consumers.
Freelance Apparel Designer
tasc Performance2017 – 2018
As a contract designer for the brand, I execute all concept research, apparel design, and color + print development for the Spring '19 and Fall '20 Men's and Women's collections. I participate in product development, fittings, and construction reviews with in-house team and overseas vendors, and lead seasonal product merchandising efforts to drive new product innovations.
Design & Development Manager
Ministry of Supply2016 – 2017
As the Design & Development Manager, I was the primary designer and developer for all products in the well-known men’s category and new women’s category. I created and managed our product line consisting of 40+ existing SKUs and 45+ new SKUs, meeting the target margin of 51% for our direct-to-consumer business.
Designer II - Outerwear, Baselayer, + Hunt/Fish Apparel
L.L.Bean2015 – 2016
As a Designer II - Outerwear, Baselayer, and Hunt/Fish Apparel, I designed 24+ product SKU’s per season across active and traditional outdoor product categories to meet the needs of both loyal and new L.L. Bean customers.
Designer II - Apparel + Product
adidas Group2012 – 2015
As a Designer II - Apparel/Product, I designed performance training apparel and sport uniforms for adidas NCAA and Team divisions, designing 30+ SKUs per season at target margins of 44-54% across multiple business units.
Apparel Designer
Wild Things2009 – 2011
As the lead Apparel Designer, I was the sole designer for consumer and military product lines, executing all product design, patternmaking, sample sewing, and product development in-house before starting factory operations.
