William G. Hildebrand
/ˈwiljəm/ˈhil dəˌbrænd /
• NYC based fashion forecaster, photographer and design enthusiast.
Work Experience
EMPLOYER
Fashion Snoops
POSITION
Director of Activewear
LOCATION
New York, US
RESPONSIBILITIES
Track cultural trends
Seasonal trend stories
Color analysis
Consulting projects
Advise on creative direction
Marketing opportunities
Travel for industry events
My current role aims at exploring macro socio-cultural trends and analyze how they can influence fashion design, specifically activewear. I publish reports on a trend forecasting platform, Fashion Snoops, with the goal to inspire our clients with future opportunities. In addition to constantly being on the lookout for the latest innovations, I also have the chance to work as a consultant for apparel & footwear companies in order to help their teams identify top layer conversations, marketing activations, design drivers, and key colors with cultural relevance in mind.
EMPLOYER
Inmouv (Carlin Group)
POSITION
Sales Agent
E-commerce Manager
LOCATION
Paris, FRA
RESPONSIBILITIES
Trend book sales
Prospect research
Web design
Web platform management
Creation of presentations
Consulting meetings
Trade show coverage
I began working in the fashion trends industry as a sales agent which gave me a clear vision of clients needs, something that is still useful as of today in my artistic position. While the missions were initially business driven, I was gradually trusted to partake in creative operations such as consulting meetings, content strategy and web design. This progressive evolution pushed me to grow towards the role I currently occupy.
EMPLOYER
Actuel B
POSITION
Sales Associate
E-commerce Manager
Staff Photographer
LOCATION
Avignon, FRA
RESPONSIBILITIES
Photography (Studio & Editorial)
Graphic design
Community management
Visual merchandising
Website update
My first accomplished professional experience was as a sales associate at a luxury fashion retailer where I developed my fashion knowledge, an eye for detail, a keen sense of styling and strengthened my client-facing skills. Since the company wasn't embracing e-commerce opportunities, I volunteered to lead a digitalization project where I created a shooting studio and was rapidly responsible for product photography as well as the management of our just created e-commerce platform. The project lead to a new main source of revenue for the French boutique.
Skills
Fashion Forecast
Macro trend research and product analysis with a focus on Activewear
Concept Creation
Inspirational storytelling, thematic mood-boards and conceptual footwear hybrids
Creative Direction
Advise on creative and product direction, and identify marketing opportunities with cultural relevance in mind
Site Set Up
Creation of domain name, SEO, WordPress installation and update
E-commerce
Experience with WooCommerce, Prestashop, and Farfetch
Web Design
Creation of a visual identity, graphic layout, and color strategy
Studio Photography
Experience with luxury garments, bags, accessories, and footwear
Retouching & Color
Strong retouching and color correcting skills with a focus on product imagery
Editing Skills
High proficiency in Wacom pen tablet, Photoshop and Illustrator on Mac OS X