Local Passion, Global Scope
London-born, San Francisco-based designer, Katherine is a cultural chameleon.
Most comfortable on-the-move, Katherine collects inspiration everywhere - from rural Rabari villages in Kutch, tweed weavers in Scotland, furniture designers in Antwerp, avant garde performance artists in Shanghai, street art culture in Bogota, batik studios in Bali, tilework in Istanbul, weaving in Uzbekistan - applying her voraciously curated, yet, discerningly refined creative sensibility to fashion apparel and footwear, lifestyle accessories and interiors.
Living and working in the US, Europe and Asia over 20 years, Katherine developed a sharp sense of global trends and has consistently led creative teams to position and deliver product ahead of demand for both multinational and domestic brands in men's, women's and kid's categories.
Amidst an increasingly dynamic and noisy marketplace, Katherine sees the big picture for brands. Drawing on her innovation consulting exprience, her particular expertise is partnering with brands to establish, and reassert, their unique design DNA - to find the resonance and build on it. Distilling a brand's mythology, meaning and ambition, envisioning creative, inspiring teams, developing collections and delivering product that grows the brand's value for consumers, retailers and shareholders.
Katherine is innately multidisciplinary, enthusiastically optimistic and loves challenging, fulfilling environments collaborating with those who believe tomorrow will be better than today. In her career she's held leadership positions in every step of the value chain from front end market insights to design to development & production to product line management and divisional general management and ultimately entrepreneur and chief product officer.
Katherine is also sought out for her unique experience developing hand crafted products as well as designing and curating collections, in direct collaboration, with global artisans. She speaks regularly on the emergence of ethnic craft in contemporary fashion and interior design. Katherine consults with retailers, startups, hotel groups and travel brands on creating proprietary pattern, material and color equities for their branded product lines and applications.
Katherine received her B.A. (Hons) Textile Design, Printed & Knit from Glasgow School of Art.
“Textile design for fashion, lifestyle and interiors has been the consistent thread in my life and career. I’m drawn to the richness and history of artisan-made materials yet am passionate about fabric innovation in modern applications.”
