I worked in the Fashion Industry for over 10 years and within the Higher Education sector for the last 12 years. During a varied career in the Fashion Industry, I gained a wealth of experience including; Design, Product Development, Garment Manufacture/Technology, Graphics and Textile and Print Development.

My main area of expertise is in Design; I have successfully held roles such as Senior Designer and Head of Design, and I am well respected throughout the industry. Within which I has worked with many large UK retailers such as Matalan, Mamas & Papas, M&S and Freemans Catalogue.

I have a specialist knowledge of Design and product development and the process from design sketch to critical path and manufacturing planning. Such experience has facilitated my academic practice, enabling me to provide students with a robust understanding of the practicalities involved in delivering the product to the store environment and then understanding how to market apparel visually in order to facilitate greater custom. This has given me the ability to teach across areas such as Design, Business Strategy, Brand/Product Development and Customer Profiling in an engaging and practical manner.

I also spent my time in industry visiting factories in Turkey, China, Hong Kong, India, Dubai & Vietnam, and has travelled extensively to the U.S and Europe and the Far East.

Alongside my Senior Lecturer role, I have developed a role as an experienced External Examiner, which spans both the UK BA Fashion Programmes, to overseas BA Fashion Programmes in India and Egypt. I am actively involved in the development of new UK and overseas courses, in which I participates in external validations as a panel member, in order to appraise the viability Fashion programmes.

My research interests are in the development of new CAD technologies in Design, seeking to uncover if the use of CAD technology in apparel design, enhances or impedes a designer’s creativity and how this could affect manufacturing and product development process.