Sciessent Tex Talk: Recent Episodes
Steve Cunningham
Welcome to the Sciessent Tex Talk Podcast, where we chat with the movers and shakers of the textile world to bring you behind-the-scenes insights you can use to kick your design and development career into high gear. If you like our show and are interested in hearing more, go to sciessent.com, where you can find more podcast episodes, blog posts and links to everything that is mentioned in our episodes.
Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Mac McGuire – a Senior Product Line Manager at PUMA.
Mac focuses on high performance footwear. With over seven years in the industry, Mac has extensive experience managing product lines, bringing product innovations to market, and working on collaborative product drops with athletes, brands, and entertainment assets.
In this episode, Mac discusses:
- How he became the Senior Product Line Manager for men's performance footwear at PUMA.
- How he's seen consumer demand and interests shift over the years.
- How he identifies men's intricate running and training needs in his target markets.
- The best ways of identifying innovative technologies for a new product line he's creating.
- Collaborations he's managed with athletes, influencers and street brands and what made them successful.
- Projects he's working on now.
- Advice for people with fresh careers who are trying to be successful in this industry.
To learn more, visit sciessent.com/knowledge-hub.
Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Michelle Briggs – a Senior Design Manager on the Creative Direction Team at Reebok here in Boston, MA.
As the design manager of Concept & Color at Reebok, Michelle is responsible for developing their global color palette and seasonal color strategy.
Michelle's background in apparel design from the University of Cincinnati DAAP program and Masters of Global Management from the Arizona State University Thunderbird program has allowed her to merge technical design skills with a global business leadership mindset.
As a global design leader in the active industry, Michelle prioritizes in-depth trend & consumer research, storytelling, and sustainability when building the seasonal direction and developing the global palette.
In this episode, Michelle discusses:
- What projects, new products and successes her team at Reebok is working on
- What features she sees consumers increasingly desiring in her product category
- How she identifies the consumer “wants” as she enters into her design cycles
- What initiatives she's taking right now on the sustainable fashion front
- An overview of how the dyeing process works
- Challenges her team faced during the pandemic and how they overcame them
- How footwear and apparel has changed for the better over the last year and a half
To learn more, visit sciessent.com/knowledge-hub.
Today we are speaking with Levana Bienstock, the Manager of Raw Materials at Victoria’s Secret.
Levana is a textile specialist, with over a decade of experience in the fashion industry.
Originally from the Midwest, she moved to New York to study at Pratt Institute, where she graduated with her BFA in Fashion Design. While at Pratt, Levana initiated the fashion department’s exchange program, spending a year at Nouva Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan, Italy.
Over the course of her career, Levana has held roles on the fabric teams at Lord &Taylor Private Label, DKNY Ready to Wear, and Anna Sui. She partnered directly with Anna Sui on researching fabrics and prints for the designer’s Runway Collections.
Levana joined Victoria’s Secret in 2015. She has been able to merge her passion of lace, embroidery, and fabric development with her technical expertise, working hand in hand with the lingerie industry’s top suppliers and vendors.
In this episode, Levana discusses:
- How she became the Raw Materials Manager at Victoria's Secret
- The differences and similarities between design and aesthetic, and raw materials and science.
- Her approach to innovation and sustainability
- How Victoria's Secret had to pivot during COVID
- The biggest challenges and opportunities for the industry since the pandemic hit
To learn more, visit sciessent.com/knowledge-hub.
Lauren Bertrando is the Senior Director of Design and Merchandising at Delta Galil USA, working with brands like Splendid, Magnolia loungewear for Joanna Gaines, Tommy Hilfiger, Nearly Nude, Spalding, and more.
She is an accomplished and versatile creative design leader specializing in design management and brand building, with a demonstrated history creating successful fashion collections from concept inception to execution.
Formerly the Director Of Design, Bar III and Maison Jules RTW at Macy's, Lauren is skilled in fostering innovation while ensuring brand cohesiveness, lifestyle identity and quality.
Not only is she adept at setting a clear vision that drives business and capitalizes on new opportunities, but Lauren also supplies and retains top-tier talent in the design industry with dynamic employee engagement and team building.
In this episode of the Sciessent Tex Talks Podcast, Lauren discusses:
- How she became the Senior Director of Design and Merchandising at Delta Galil.
- How she fosters an entrepreneurial environment among her team, enabling them to create original, on-trend collections that drive sales.
- How to encourage teams to stay innovative rather than leaning too far into the tried-and-true.
- Tips for how to best collaborate with sales and production teams when developing special product offerings.
- How to hit internal margin goals while also maintaining brand aesthetic.
- How have her team at Delta Galil had to pivot during the pandemic
- Environmental changes she's seeing at the wholesaler and retailer level.
- What changes Delta Galil has made to their product.
- Her opinion on the importance of antimicrobials in textiles today.
- The biggest challenges and opportunities for the textiles industry since the pandemic hit.
To learn more, visit sciessent.com/knowledge-hub.