James Zabala
Design leader with a proven track record of creating exceptional product for authentic brands.
- Role
- Senior Designer, Footwear at L.L.Bean
- Location
- Freeport, ME, US
- LinkedIn followers
- 500 followers
About James Zabala
Design, development and sourcing expert with a proven track record of creating…
Experience
Senior Designer, Footwear
Apr 2017 — Present · Freeport, ME, US
Developed a comprehensive strategy for L.L.Bean product collaborations. This strategy led to the multi-year collaboration & partnership with Todd Snyder. • Led a cross-functional team for the development and delivery of the Fall 2020 New York Fashion Week and Fall 2020 commercial L.L.Bean X Todd Snyder collaboration collections. The Fall 2020 commercial collection led to 11 billion consumer impressions. • Proposed, designed and developed first co-label collaboration of the Bean Boot with Flowfold.• Championed the redesign of a core, unisex boot program to a women’s specific offering. This redesign led to a 28% increase in sales. • Designed the Men’s and Women’s “Weather Challenger” pack boot. This boot sold out in its first full season (Fall 2022). • Partnered with the Maine’s Warden Service to re-design their service boot. This re-design led to the inclusion of a women’s version for the first time. • Design and develop men’s and women’s footwear across all categories. • Lead designer for the children’s footwear category. • Demonstrated ability to identify, onboard and nurture talent. • Created seasonal trend decks to inform footwear merchants and line direction.• Collaborate seasonally with internal graphics team to develop footwear specific artwork• Identified and implemented calendar improvements that lead to higher quality and on time samples. • Worked with sourcing to pre-cost all footwear programs to ensure margin targets were met.
Education
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Bachelor of Science (BS), Industrial and Product Design
2001 — 2005
Husson University
Master of Business Administration - MBA
2019 — 2021
Skills
- Concept Development
- Trend
- Shoes
- Product Development
- Indesign
- Styling
- Merchandising
- Fashion Design
- Illustrator
- Art Direction
- Adobe Creative Suite
- Sketching
- Trend Analysis
- Footwear
- Brand Management
- Sportswear
- Textiles
- Fashion
- Illustration
- Visual Merchandising
- Adobe Illustrator
- Marketing
- Graphic Design
- Sales
- Photoshop
- Apparel
- Tech Packs
- Retail
- Product Design
- Brand Development
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