PROFILE

ABOUT

HEAD OF DESIGN & PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
FASHION DESIGN - CREATIVE DIRECTION - LONDON

I am a London-based Head of Design and Product Development working across fashion design, technical development, creative direction and brand identity.

Born and raised in Denmark, I began my career between design education and hands-on industry experience, including working at 20+ shows at Copenhagen Fashion Week. My first professional role was at the avant-garde luxury brand Barbara I Gongini, where my interest in both the creative and technical sides of fashion began to merge.

In 2017, I moved to London to expand my perspective and develop my own design language. Alongside my studies, I built 1COQ92 (Incognito), a technical streetwear project based on anonymity, counter-surveillance and identity. The project later won Collection of the Year, marking a defining moment in my development as both a designer and product developer.

Since then, my work has moved across commercial streetwear, luxury outerwear and founder-led brand development, including roles with Unknown London, Jaded London and Karl Donoghue. At Karl Donoghue, I developed specialist experience in leather, shearling, knitwear, accessories and international manufacturing, working closely with factories, mills and specialist suppliers across Europe and Japan.

I am currently Head of Design and Development at Forgotten Tribes, where I lead product direction, fit, graphics, print, packaging, campaign imagery and brand identity. My role focuses on moving the brand from off-the-shelf sourcing towards fully designed and developed collections with a clearer lifestyle identity.

Across all projects, my focus is on creating products with purpose: strong identity, considered innovative construction, material integrity and a clear connection between concept, craft and customer.

mikkelkunze10@gmail.com

Contact

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Mikkel Kunze — Experience

Experience

Head of Design & Development Nov 2024 – present
Forgotten Tribes · London, UK
  • Leading and managing projects across design, graphics, packaging and campaigns, guiding the team through day-to-day delivery and setting up templates and workflows for the team to follow
  • Driving a strategic repositioning of the brand from product-led to lifestyle-focused, redefining visual identity and collection direction
  • Owning the full product cycle from concept and tech packs through sampling, fittings and production sign-off
  • Reduced customer returns from ~30% to 15% in under 20 months by overhauling fit standards and tightening quality control across the range
Senior Designer & Product Developer Oct 2020 – Nov 2024
Karl Donoghue · London, UK
  • Led design and development across 8+ consecutive seasons, owning the process from initial research and concept through to final production across leather, shearling and outerwear categories
  • Built and maintained supplier relationships across UK, Spain, Türkiye, Nepal and Japan, managing communication from sampling through to delivery
  • Produced all graphic design output for the brand including linesheets, lookbooks and seasonal marketing materials
Designer & Product Developer Jan 2021 – Mar 2022
  • Worked alongside the Creative Director to design and refine the collection, with responsibility across fabric selection, material innovation and creative direction
Assistant Designer / Product Developer Oct 2020 – Jan 2021
  • Supported collection development across design, wholesale and supplier communication
CAD Designer Mar 2020 – Oct 2020
Unknown London · London, UK · Freelance
  • Produced detailed tech packs for overseas production
  • Advised the design team on production feasibility, ensuring design decisions were achievable at the manufacturing stage
Co-Founder & Designer Feb 2017 – Mar 2020
1COQ92 (Incognito) · London, UK
  • Co-founded and built an independent fashion label from the ground up, taking the brand from concept to stocked product
  • Showed at London Fashion Week, gaining press coverage and establishing the brand within the independent London fashion scene
  • Designed and produced full collections end-to-end, from creative direction and pattern development through to manufactured final product
  • Won Collection of the Year, recognised for a distinct visual identity and personal design language
Garment Technologist Jun 2019 – Nov 2019
Safiyaa · London, UK · Freelance
  • Redesigned the brand's tech pack structure from scratch, creating a new template adopted across all subsequent seasons
  • Translated fit session evaluations into precise technical documentation, improving accuracy between design intent and production output
Production Assistant Jun 2016 – Dec 2016
Nicklas Kun · Copenhagen, Denmark · Freelance
  • Pattern making, sewing toiles and quality control
  • Coordination with suppliers and production planning
Production Intern Nov 2015 – Apr 2016
Barbara I Gongini · Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Tech packs for overseas production
  • Pattern making, sewing toiles and quality control

Education

1st Class BA (Hons) Fashion & Textiles
University of West London, London
3 years
AP Graduate, Diploma in Fashion Design
Mode og Designskolen, Copenhagen
2 years
Diploma in Classical Illustration & Traditional Techniques
Academy of Design Illustration & Visual Innovation, Copenhagen
1 year

Skills

Collection & brand development
End-to-end ownership from concept and research through to production-ready range, across multiple categories and price points
Technical design & tech packs
CMT and fully factored production across womenswear, menswear, leather, shearling, outerwear and accessories
Specialist material knowledge
Leather, shearling, cashmere knit, compact cotton, nylon, with deep focus on luxury materials, sustainability and sourcing
Creative direction & visual identity
Campaign direction, lookbooks, linesheets and full brand repositioning, from concept through to final output
Supplier & production management
Multi-country supplier relationships across UK, Spain, Türkiye, Nepal and Japan. Factory visits, trade shows, sampling to delivery
Adobe Creative Suite
15+ years in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign
Classical illustration & hand drawing
Formally trained in classical illustration and traditional techniques, able to sketch and communicate design intent by hand from first concept through to detailed working drawings

Languages

Danish - native English - fluent Norwegian - sufficient Swedish - sufficient
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