Intellex Acquires Expert by Big Village

We're thrilled to announce that Intellex has acquired Expert by Big Village, effective March 22, 2024. This strategic move enhances our capabilities and strengthens our commitment to delivering exceptional solutions to our customers.

Stay tuned for more updates on how this acquisition will benefit our clients and experts.

For inquiries or more information, please contact us at info@intellex.com.

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Expert Details

Product Development: Garments, Non Garment Soft Lines, Hard Lines, Prototyping, Sourcing, QA, Vendor Compliance, Start-Ups, and Production Evaluation

ID: 724142 California, USA

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Expert has over 35 years' experience in the garment, soft lines and hardline industry. Expert's product development skills cover hard lines as well as soft lines. If a client needs any type of prototypes made, she can help get it done. She can get tech pacs made, source all materials, get prototypes made, and locate the correct factory for production. R&D is one of her strong points working with client one on one to bring your product to life. This also includes getting molds made and 3D printing. Environmentally sustainable are socially compliant garment and textile manufacturing alternatives are also in her field of expertise. She understands the choices of green textile sourcing and green garment manufacturing. She has extensive contacts with many different mills and converters, both woven and knit. If a client wants a special fabric made, she can get it made. is on the ground floor of R&D on new, clean, closed-loop fiber processing into thread and textiles. She is also involved in R&D with many other cutting-edge sustainable fibers and textiles. She consults with the client on the best possible design to achieve maximum wear. Fabric, fabric finish, sizing, trim, thread, stitch and seams will be addressed. She possesses strong skills in recreating garment style and fit. She can re-engineer to reflect higher or lower cost structure.

Expert keenly understands that finding reliable garment contractors is one of the most significant problems today. Expert works with some of the best contractors remaining in the United States. She also works with some of the best off shore contractors with low minimums. Expert can assist her clients select which dyes are correct for which textiles. Different dye processes are used for woven and knit fabrics. The expert can direct her client to the right dye process they wish. PFD textile, garment and most wet processes are also consulted on. Color matching and strike offs are addressed using standard methods as well as computer-based methods. She is currently consulting to many of her clients on the use of sustainable and environmentally friendly finishes and dye processes. Designing for the environment and recyclables is a pet project of hers, and she is engaged in continual research on the subject.

Expert also offers education and management training for group seminars or as individual one-on-one sessions. Hands-on training is offered for apparel studies program educators. Educators will learn to teach step-by-step workshops that can be taught in the classroom. Workshop class syllabuses are included in the seminars. Corporate seminars to fine-tune your management team in all aspects of garment product development. One-on-one training is also available. Hands-on workshops are offered for businesses as well as educators.

Expert possesses strong abilities in sewing and manufacturing. These abilities enable her to access optimum construction of a garment. The main objective is to assure that the patterns are made and marked correctly. When the pattern marking, is correct the garment can be constructed easily.

All design houses set their own standard of quality. Once Expert has been informed of the price point and level of quality she will advise on the proper design path. She will always attempt to reach the highest level of quality that costing structure will permit.

Expert possesses an extremely strong foundation in couture house and high-end better goods manufacturing. Her hands-on background is in better goods. She drapes and is a sample maker by trade and has extensive knowledge of procurement of high -end piece goods. This background does not prevent her from working at lower price points.

Fit and physical features of garments - SIZING: learn the correct way to communicate sizing, fit changes and problems to pattern makers.
A hands-on workshop will be e-mailed to the client to guide them step by step on how to communicate fit changes and problem to the pattern maker. The consultant will work with the client on the phone and answer all questions ASTM D6193-97 standard practice for seams and stitches/SEWING OPERATIONS.

MARKERS/FABRIC USAGE/ CUTTING TICKETS/ TEXTILE QUALITY Control. How to implement textile quality control, before and after cutting. How to flag flaws. Learn about CAFÉ and the four point system. Learn the correct way to create a cutting ticket. Learn how to collect the information needed to create one. Learn what a marker is, and how to make one. Learn how to procure fabric. Learn how to source fabric and determine the correct lead times for production. Learn what lab dips, shade bands and strike-offs are. Learn how color matching for fabric is done before and during production.

All of the above have workshop files that can be sent to the client for consulting on the phone. Identify all stitches and seams used in apparel production. Identify and list in proper order, the different sewing operations used in the making of a garment. Gain a basic understanding of ASTM D6193-97
This is an on-line on- phone workshop that can take up to 10 hours, sometime more.

COSTING/PRE-PRODUCTION : Cost garments correctly from the cutting table to the shipping floor. Domestic and off shore costing. Gross margin costing and traditional costing. Understand the difference between costing for large, medium, small, and couture operation. Duty, Discounts, Agents and Customs Brokers.
There are worksheets that are sent via e-mail. The consultant will go over it step by step with the client on the phone.

GARMENT COMPONENTS:
Identify the parts, panels and pieces of a whole garment. Gain Understanding what production engineers and sewing floor managers need to spec. garments for production.
There are worksheets that are sent via e-mail. The consultant will go over it step by step with the client. Client will learn to make spec. sheets

Education

Year Degree Subject Institution
Year: 1977 Degree: Associate Degree Subject: Fashion Merchandising and Design Institution: The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Los Angeles, California
Year: 1975 Degree: Took basic requirement classes with main focus on commercial sewing Subject: Commercial Sewing Institution: Santa Monica City College, California

Work History

Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1990 to Present Employer: Undisclosed Title: CEO Department:
Responsibilities:
Expert is currently CEO of a consultancy that consults on product development for the garment and related industries. The consultancy also produces hard lines and soft lines alike for many other industries.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 2001 to 2006 Employer: University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Title: Instructor Department: Apparel Studies Program
Responsibilities:
Expert taught Introduction to Apparel Production, Quality Assessment and Visual Merchandising. Northwest Arkansas is the home of Wal-Mart. Many of her students are placed with Wal- Mart’s product development division. Expert has developed and fine- tuning a series of workshops in her Quality Assessment class. She hopes to have these workshops published and offered as a workbook to be used in universities, colleges, and corporations. She also ran her consultancy during this time.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1986 to 1990 Employer: Italian Designer Labels, Boca Raton, Florida Title: Manager Department: off shore and domestic production/retail operations
Responsibilities:
I.D.L. was owned by Merv Brody. This company is now called Vogue Italia. I.D.L. sold designer Italian active wear at discounted prices. They did direct importing and some of their own private label goods. She worked with domestic and off shore production, agents, and customs. She also worked on merchandising and operations for their 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse. The warehouse was wholesale to the public.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1980 to 1986 Employer: Designers Factory Exchange (DFE), Kendal, Florida Title: Managing Supervisor Department:
Responsibilities:
Expert's job responsibilities included getting the goods out of customs, working with contractors (domestically and off shore), locating discounted designer labels for the retail operation, getting Loris Azzaro shirt samples ready for trade shows, helping set up trade shows, making sure goods were shipped on time, customer follow up, and helping run the retail outlet. D.F.E. also carried her freelance designs under its private label
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1979 to 1980 Employer: Informalities by Oleg Cassini Target Sportswear, Men’s Outerwear, New York Title: Vice President Department: Operations and Sales
Responsibilities:
Expert helped supervise production in Hong Kong and worked with the contractors until we achieved the quality and price we wanted. Styles were researched in Italy and manufactured in Hong Kong and the New Territories. She also worked with key accounts in showroom during market and helped set up trade shows. Target Sportswear lost the Oleg Cassini license in 1980 after a bitter battle with another licensee, Burma, which held the license for Oleg Cassini golf jackets. It was a wonderful learning experience. Merv Brody was President of Informalities by Oleg Cassini, and this was the beginning of a life-long business association.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1979 to 1979 Employer: Fashion Institute Of Design and Merchandising Title: Instructor Department:
Responsibilities:
Expert taught an import/export class during this time.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1978 to 1979 Employer: Design U.S.A., a division of Jac Mar Sales Title: Director Department: Sales and Production
Responsibilities:
Designs U.S.A. made uniforms for the fast food industry. Her job was to work with the contractors in Hong Kong and Los Angeles. She did a lot of selling, and she put together a direct mail program.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1977 to 1978 Employer: Bullock’s Department Stores Title: Executive Training Department:
Responsibilities:
Expert trained in all fields.

Additional Experience

Expert Witness Experience
Expert has worked on different types of case related to garment industry. These cases range for insurance claims to contract disputes.
Training / Seminars
Expert is currently conducting her own online tutorials on industry time studies and foreign labor relations, vendor compliance as well as environmentally sustainable textiles and garment manufacturing. She has attended seminars in this field at ITMA in Milan in Nov 2015. She also attends workshops and seminars on ethical sourcing with Intertek. She is always updating her knowledge.

Fields of Expertise

new product development management, pre-production prototyping, clothing industry, design for assembly, design for disassembly, design for environment, design for recyclability, dye selection, embroidery, fabric structure configuration, fabrication, fashion industry, garment, garment company startup, garment contractor sourcing, garment cutting, garment discoloring, garment processing, garment product development, material design, material manufacturing, sewing defect, sewing machine, textile company startup, textile product sourcing, wear design, constructability, design for manufacturability, design for manufacture and assembly, design-for-quality, labor relations, fashion, Chinese manufacturing, furniture design, stage gate process, mass customization, German manufacturing, European manufacturing, new consumer product development, instructional design, discrete manufacturing, startup, fabric finishing, fastener manufacturing, product testing, fabric manufacturing, textile material discoloring, fabric discoloring, rapid product development, automated manufacturing, integrated product development, fabric construction product, material product development, personal protection equipment, consumer product design, new product development, design for testability, environmentally friendly product, computer-aided design and manufacturing, product design, engineering design productivity, needle, international manufacturing, house of quality, design process, re-engineering, quality control, protective clothing, manufacturing, flexible manufacturing, fabric, clothing manufacturing, clothing

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