Diane is a seasoned apparel product strategist and one of the original founders of SSEAMS, launched at the beginning of 2019, who recognised an opportunity to build a multidisciplinary apparel specialist team to support players in the apparel industry.

DR: “At this time, pre-pandemic, many brand startups were emerging with relative ease. The industry to this day, has little regulatory control and experienced an influx of founders launching branded products, gaining a foothold in the marketplace, mainly driven by the growth of digital E-commerce. However, those same brands are young, and by the time years 3 to 5 arrive, can be challenged by an underdeveloped infrastructure and Diane saw the opportunity to build teams as an extension to the brand to support all corners of the product creation process. SSEAMS also counts established industry players in their portfolio.

The SSEAMS founding team came together in 2020, with an aim to ‘do right‘ for this industry and put a support system in place to collaborate with key partners who were at a pinnacle stage of change and/or growth.

Prior to this, Diane had a 20 year in-house career in product management working across international retail, wholesale and licensing. Known for strong business acumen, she understands the balancing act of the art and science surrounding market requirements, product creation and ‘go to market’ activity. That experience equipped her to set up independently and consult with brand owners navigating their early years success (and failures) and implemented strategies to get them back on the right path, or supported them with their scale up programmes.

Contact: diane@sseams.co

Passionate about performance materials, Ruth is a creative fabric expert, thought leader and educator. A true materials expert, Ruth has successfully led raw materials teams in the UK, Canada, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka, across the supply chain, from performance brands to manufacturers.

She combines her network of connections, with practical in-depth knowledge of the fabric development, sourcing, validation and production processes, to make ideas come alive.

Previous experience; Lululemon, Marks & Spencer

Contact: ruth@sseams.co

20+ years of experience in leading cross-functional teams to create fashion-forward, innovative products. Expertise in Denim and casual lifestyle apparel design. Matthew is known for his awareness of market movements and global trends not only from consumer perspective but also from the industry side. A creative story teller with experience of building product directions from the four pillars; True inspiration, Archival research, Market awareness, and Technology.

Strong track record of discovering the essence of the brand and creating beautifully crafted narrative to set the foundation for any collection design.

Previous experience; CK Jeans, Timberland, Dockers, Original Penguin

Contact matthew@sseams.co

Andrew Dudgeon is an award winning apparel designer and freehand digital illustrator with an immersive, progressive and process driven approach to design, storytelling and illustration. He has over 15 years experience working on extreme conditions technical apparel, through elite performance wear to lifestyle/sportswear crossover product.

With BSc (hons) degrees in both Product Design (The University of Salford) and Sports Science (The University of Edinburgh) and having been selected to represent Scotland Internationally (Basketball), he uses his experience to create physically, culturally and emotionally enduring product that is underpinned by principles of functionality, sustainability and beauty. An approach that puts the users practical, physiological and psychological needs at its core and seeks to adopt project relevant, best in class material and manufacturing methods to explore innovative and relevant design solutions.

His career began in the performance running apparel market, working as lead menswear designer for UK specialist Ronhill and progressed to leading Henri Lloyd’s performance category as Technical Design Manager, working on product for partners as diverse as LandRover BAR, Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, RNLI, Team Sky Cycling alongside a commercial portfolio of inline marine, sailing and athleisure product.  Most recently he held senior design roles at Umbro in both the Inline and Replica teams, designing for the brands international collective of professional football (soccer) clubs, England rugby teams and global network of licensees and retailers.

His career has evolved to encompass both freelance apparel design and illustration and includes clients as diverse as Aimé Leon Dore, Beams Japan, Sabukaru, This Thing Of Ours, Hypebeast, New Balance, Radda Golf, Umbro and in-house concept projects for technical apparel manufacturers looking to showcase their capabilities for the athleisure market.

Contact: Andrew@sseams.co

An expert in Apparel Merchandising and Go-to-Market, Emma has driven global business growth, efficiency, and innovation at some of the world’s biggest sports brands. She is passionate about clearly translating brand and commercial strategy into the optimum consumer journey.

With a 20 year in-house career progressing from an early start in Product Development and Product Management at Nike EUHQ in Amsterdam, then on to leadership roles in Product Merchandising, Retail Space Management and Go-to-Market at Reebok, Emma has gained a uniquely holistic perspective of how to maximise the product creation process from strategy to sell out.

An advocate of the transformative power of Merchandising and Go-to-Market, she brought an innovative new approach to Reebok Global Merchandising, blending Visual Merchandising techniques with data driven merchandising decisions to create exciting consumer environments that drove optimum sell-out and margin. Using this approach, she successfully collaborated with Local and Regional teams to maximise their product merchandising, sell-in tools, and retail shop in shops across the globe.

Past experience: Nike, Reebok

Contact: Emma@sseams.co