Fay Murphy

Vintage inspired women's footwear design with quirky details and styling. Free hand sketch work, range building and creation of finals specs for production in the Far East.

- Long term partnership in the design & development of all Paul Smith women’s footwear collections, successfully reflecting the brand identity across the PS, Mainline and Catwalk ranges. - 4 seasons per year of 20-25 styles, approx 100 -120 skus, 85% newness, 57% sneakers. - Consistently evolved the design direction of women’s footwear and alignment to RTW collections. - Maintained cohesion of aesthetic & quality across 12 factories in Italy, Portugal, Spain, China & Vietnam. - Seasonal development trips to manufacturers in Italy and Portugal. - Twice yearly material sourcing trips to Lineapelle, Milan, maintaining strong relationships with tanneries. - Delivery of a successful women's and men's espadrille collaboration with Castaner during lockdown. - Positive mentoring and development of the Women’s Footwear Design Assistant.

Footwear design consultant for Air & Grace including the design and technical specs for catwalk collaboration with British fashion designers Teatum Jones for their catwalks shoe at London Fashion Week.

CHAPTER 2 is my own luxury footwear brand initially started with the vision to create the most beautiful children's shoes which has since evolved into a capsule collection exclusively for women. The aspirational brand identity is built around classic, luxury footwear design, quality and craftsmanship. Successfully created a cult footwear brand consistently featured in all major children's fashion publications. The innovative footwear and brand image influenced the kids footwear market, incl. StartRite & Clarks and debut collection was awarded the MilK Magazine award for best shoes 2014. Launched a highly anticipated, sell out capsule collection of luxury women's boots in 2019. I make twice yearly trips to manufacturers in Marche, Italy to source leathers, components and to oversee shoe development and production. As well as the footwear design/development I also create the website design, photography and brand imagery, social media content creation, packaging and branding design. I enjoy the art direction, styling & photography for all brand imagery including product and lifestyle shots. In 2022 I initiated an inspiring blog feature photographing creative women, their work and creative processes. Features so far include artist Jane Campling, hand marbling by Florence Samuarez of Inq, Hergest Lee, dried floral artist Deborah of Moonko and art quilts by Cutt & Sons.

Design, material sourcing and development of luxury men's & women's footwear and leather belts for Ong Oaj Pairam catwalk collections showcased at London Fashion Week. I oversaw development and production in Italy and England.

Concept, sketch and initial specs for practical, outdoor footwear; riding boots and wellington boots.

Other job titles held at Fitflop: Product Line Manager. Creative and Development Manager. Product Development Manager. • Instigated a new culture of range planning, and design/development of seasonal product ranges through management of a womens range that delivers 90% of total FitFlop business. • Driving the aesthetic direction of the women’s range, developing a luxury handwriting that purveys the values and personality of the brand. • Challenging product perception both internally and externally whilst achieving a balance of iconic and more commercially driven product. • Development of a vibrant seasonal colour and materials palette that truly differentiates the FitFlop brand. • Leading sketch/product review meetings for the women’s team, including inspiring trend presentations. • Briefing in product to sample rooms, following development from initial concept through to production ensuring footwear delivers aesthetic, fit and margin. • Involved in the building of segmentation across consumer profiles and distribution channels, introducing contemporary and trend ranges which allowed FitFlop to reposition from John Lewis to Corso Como 10, Harvey Nichols and Net-A-Porter. • Pushing the brand into new footwear categories to reduce the dependency on toe thongs and create a balanced range assortment, including the design and development of the first FitFlop ballerina. • Monitoring sell through and sales feedback from key global markets including pre-lining with key accounts in order to build a strong, commercial range and maintain product lifecycle. • Establishing a price structure across a segmented range. • Involved in selection of seasonal communication styles. • Setting seasonal development time line and critical path. • Inspiring passion and drive through management of the women’s product team. • Creation and delivery of the women’s product presentation at the seasonal global sales launch.

Feminine and quintessentially British women’s footwear design with a strong use of colour & print from concept to sketch, initial spec and briefing in to product development. Preparation of trend research and mood boards to present clear and focussed direction for the AW11 collection across Lifestyle, Collection and Boutique ranges. Design, colour up and specification of products.

• Trend research and style direction, design and specification covering all categories of womens accessories including shoes, handbags, jewellery, belts and soft accessories. • Presentation of range direction, samples and final collection to company director Johnny Boden. • Use of the womenswear colour palette to colour up the collection and build the range structure. • Working with technologists to ensure design, fit and function are at highest quality for sampling and production. • Direct contact with suppliers in India, Far East, Brazil and UK including sampling trips to India and Brazil. • Management of Junior Accessories Designer and Design Assistants.

Creation and launch of a luxurious handmade women's footwear label. Establishing signature style of contemporary classic footwear playing with traditional elements of handmade shoes together with innovative leather techniques and finishes. Raw copper heels which age to verdigris, rust dyed leather and hand painted brushstrokes and sun burst effects on uppers and wooden heels. All shoes are handmade in England with components and materials sourced from Italy. Collections exhibited at showrooms for London, Paris and Milan Fashion Weeks.

Solely responsible for the entire design process and delivery of luxury men’s and women’s accessories collections. • Successful collaboration directly with Dries over 14 catwalk collections. • Concept, design & development of 2 womens and 2 mens luxury accessories collections per year. • Research, ideas and concepts with presentation of inspiration and product direction to Dries. • Developed specific colour and material direction for footwear and accessories ranges to complement the RTW collection. • Design and development of shoes, bags and belts through sketches, working drawings, specification sheets and prototyping. • Range build including editing the line. • Sourcing and selection of materials, components and manufacturing. • Research and development of unique hardware. • Development of embroidery techniques and embellishment designs specific to accessories. • Working closely with pattern makers and technicians in Italy throughout sampling process. • Co-ordination and management of all sampling and manufacturing facilities. • Organisation of pre-production. • Oversee production in Italy and quality control in Antwerp. • Setting and calculating seasonal pricing to achieve desired margin. • Establish and maintain the seasonal calendar, ensuring product availability for catwalks and key sales showrooms. • Dressing and product styling of footwear and accessories at runway shows. • Production of sales material and display of product ranges in sales showroom. • Maintaining the archive of current and previous seasons collections.