MARIA C.M. CASTRO
La Canada
Summary
Experienced Technical Designer with expertise in the apparel industry. Proven success with leadership, creating technical packages, balancing patterns and providing graded specifications to factories to develop well fitted garments with stylistic details and achieving market superior apparel products.
Encouraging manager and analytical problem-solver with talents for team building, leading and motivating, as well as excellent customer relations aptitude and relationship-building skills. Proficient in using independent decision-making skills and sound judgment to positively impact company success. Dedicated to applying training, monitoring and morale-building abilities to enhance employee engagement and boost performance.
Overview
30
30
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Director of Technical Design
Good American
Culver City, CA
01.2021 - 01.2026
- Manage a team of eight technical designers, all levels. Manage fit sessions with technical designers. Establish new fits and maintain current block specs for our established fits. Partnered with the Design, Product Developers, and Production team. Improve graded specs for our plus size denim categories. Improved fit approval iterations, thus producing garments within the calendar and delivery.
Import Denim Technical Designer
Boyish Jeans
Los Angeles, CA
01.2020 - 01.2021
- Create technical packages with sewing construction, fit comments and grading. Established grading for all tops, jackets and jumpsuits. Review factory patterns to give corrections to improve fit. Work on all denim products from 5 pocket jeans, dresses, tops and overall for the women’s contemporary market. Lead all fit sessions on live models. Worked on all fit comments from development to bulk shipping samples. Partner with production to create file cycle product calendar to manage timely delivery. Track all phrases of sampling to ensure timely delivery of SMS and bulk production. Developed plus size, curvy and petite fits and grades. Manage a freelance technical designer.
Import Denim Technical Designer
Citizens of Humanity
Huntington Park, CA
01.2018 - 01.2020
- Oversee all import denim technical aspects for COH women, COH men and Agolde denim line. Detailed technical packages includes thread color placements, specs, grading and detailed sewing construction of the front, back and inside of pants and jackets.
Senior Technical Designer
Juicy Couture
Arleta, CA
01.2013 - 01.2018
- Oversaw several technical design aspects such as fit evaluation in product categories that includes all woven, denim, knits and sweater for both women, girls and babies. Manage one technical designer.
- Teamed up with product manager and designer director to decrease production cost by 45% and increase sewing efficiency for all overseas factories to meet and exceeded production deadlines.
- Advised design team on achieving designer’s intent with fit, silhouette and details during all phases of development to production.
- Partnered with other senior technical designers to improve upon Juicy’s standards in grading and construction for the company’s POM manual.
Senior Technical Designer
Anna Catherine
Pasadena, CA
01.2011 - 01.2012
- Developed and conveyed development and fit comments on all product categories including denim, sweaters, woven and knit garments.
- Created and facilitated a POM manual, technical package format, and grading. Resulted in a 3X improvement in communication with the factories.
- Developed and established all bottom patterns blocks including denim jeans. Reduced development time by 35%.
- Corrected factories patterns including all blazers, jackets, dress, blouses and bottoms and effectively communicated fit updates with illustrations and pattern corrections.
- Actively collaborated with design director, owner, sales and production manager to develop a women contemporary startup line.
- Worked independently without management and supervised one technical designer.
Lead Technical Designer
Alo
Montebello, CA
01.2010 - 01.2011
- Managed all technical fit aspects for women and men activewear lines which includes knits and woven categories.
- Partnered with Technical director on establishing and improving Alo’s POM manuals and grading for factory’s reference.
- Drafted pattern blocks for factories to follow and use when developing prototypes which reduced the development timeline.
- Worked with cross-functional team to improve production time by 50% while maintaining the functional calendar.
- Lead a team of 3 technical designers on varies other lines by mentoring and leading fit sessions.
Technical Designer
Juicy Couture
Arleta, CA
01.2007 - 01.2010
- Maintain technical packages from product development through production stages for women’s soft woven, hard woven, denim and outerwear garments.
- Lead all fitting sessions with design director and designers to achieve designer’s intent.
- Communicated fit issues using Photoshop and Illustrator as tools to provide sewing instruction, correcting fit issues and to illustrate balance pattern corrections to all factories.
Technical Designer
Guess
Los Angeles, CA
01.2006 - 01.2007
- Conducted and lead all fitting sessions with buyers and designers to evaluate fit and design details of all knits and sweater category for the Marciano label.
- Teamed up with product manager to satisfy all factories concerns and to meet monthly deliveries.
- Ensured fittings and graded specs were completed within each month’s delivery time frame on consistent basis.
Denim Product Development/Assistant Patternmaker
Azteca Production
Commerce, CA
01.1996 - 01.2006
- Developed and maintained accurate duplicate samples by communicating and correcting sewing constructions with patternmakers and samplemakers. Manage patternmaker and sewers workload. Effectively provided detailed sewby samples for production team to follow for company’s production floor. Partnered with wash departments to ensure consistency on all denim washes and techniques. Developed denim technical packages with emphasis on fit comments, graded measurement and finalized specification.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Fashion Design, Minor in Business Administration
Woodbury University
Skills
- Fitting Tech Pack Patternmaking and draping Flat sketching and detailed sewing construction Grading Pattern corrections/balancing Sewing (machine and hand)
- Photoshop, Illustrator, Full Circle, PLM, Gerber, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power Point)
- Collaborative leadership
- Team management
- Team building
- Verbal and written communication
- People management
- Employee development
- Coaching and mentoring
Timeline
Senior Director of Technical Design
Good American
01.2021 - 01.2026
Import Denim Technical Designer
Boyish Jeans
01.2020 - 01.2021
Import Denim Technical Designer
Citizens of Humanity
01.2018 - 01.2020
Senior Technical Designer
Juicy Couture
01.2013 - 01.2018
Senior Technical Designer
Anna Catherine
01.2011 - 01.2012
Lead Technical Designer
Alo
01.2010 - 01.2011
Technical Designer
Juicy Couture
01.2007 - 01.2010
Technical Designer
Guess
01.2006 - 01.2007
Denim Product Development/Assistant Patternmaker
Azteca Production
01.1996 - 01.2006
Bachelor of Science - Fashion Design, Minor in Business Administration
Woodbury University