strathdee

thirty years in a nutshell  -

Trained in fashion & textile design at Istituto Marangoni, Milano, in the early eighties. Shop girl for Armani in Milan & Yohji Yammamoto in London. Hired by Elio Fiorucci for first design job followed by work in different design studios in Milan & New Dehli.

Landed a job early on at Romeo Gigli - an amazing time to be there as the company grew out of Romeo’s living room and into a white loft known today as Corso Como 10. Worked on the main collections, fittings, accessories, knitwear, embroideries, design consultancies, textile  & yarn research, model casting and as press attachee’ under Carla Sozzani’s direction.

Left in the early nineties to co-found Cactus & Rose - a design consultancy studio based in Milan. Consulting  and designing ranges for leading Italian  womenswear fashion and textile  manufacturers such as AEFFE, Maska, Braghenti. Sole consultant to  Takashimaya in Tokyo and head of show casting for Romeo in Pari. Launched Cactus & Rose label of shirts and shoes  which were snapped up by top boutiques in the world - Barneys, Banner, Bergdorf Browns & Joyce.

London called in the late nineties, opened l.i.t.e. design  studio in an old jam factory with fashion & textile clients in Italy, Hong Kong & Paris. Spent all spare time in Bali.

Crossed over into print media as editorial curator for NZ Pacific Style issue of Case da Abitare in the early noughties. Freelance design journalist & interiors stylist for NZ & Italian publications. Senior contributing editor for urbis magazine NZ. Art director/associate editor of Northland regional arts & culture mag Stingray. Media liaisons officer for Hokianga Tourism Association. Founded and ran Outpost Hokianga destination retail store in Rawene for six summers.

Visiting lecturer in fashion at CoCA, Massey University Wellington.Launched Trends Research Methodologies and Fashion Styling paper. Workshop leader for Design for Tourism at Motuti Marae, Hokianga.

Completed PGDIP Design in 2011 including papers in Visual and Material Culture Studies. Honours with Distinction.

Pop-up shop/art installation Outpost Hokianga/Temporeal at Village Arts Gallery, Kohukohu 10.12.11 thru to 19.01.12.  extended  to 02.02.2012.

I provide freelance  contract services in:

fashion design 

show casting

feature writing & picture editing

fashion & design education

interiors styling

creative research & trends forecasting

I enjoy new experiences and professional challenges and am always interested to hear about potential projects big or small.

My strengths are in delivering creative content over different media &  project management. I am a people person. I also count the beans and work to budget.

I perform best in a supportive team environment that is work focused. I can take direction or I can lead. I work on site and online.

The work itself is what interests me.

Understanding my clients and delivering to their  briefs is important to me. Many of my clients have since become friends.

For detailed C.V. and references  - mail@lisestrathdee.com