On returning from maternity leave in April 2025, I led the Casual Dresses & Skirts department within M&S Collection, which later evolved into the wider Dresses & Skirts department. Working across both casual and smart end-use, my focus was on creating a more modern, relevant approach to dressing.

The role went far beyond designing individual garments. I was responsible for shaping a cohesive seasonal vision — balancing customer insight, emerging trends and commercial opportunity to create ranges that felt fresh, relevant and right for the M&S customer, across both store and online.

I worked collaboratively across Design, Buying, Technology and our international supplier base, building strong relationships with suppliers in India and China through regular trips and close day-to-day communication. This enabled me to develop a mix of co-created and in-house designs, bringing together creative direction, product expertise and commercial awareness to deliver a strong and cohesive range.

I embraced evolving data, AI and trend intelligence to anticipate what the customer would want next, using these insights to inform product direction and ensure the range felt relevant for the season ahead. Working closely with the Tech team, I also pushed the development of fabric, fit and construction, while introducing 3D CAD presentation tools to visualise garments more realistically and finesse designs before reaching the final product.

Alongside the creative process, I confidently presented seasonal ranges to the Leadership Team, communicating the thinking, commercial strategy and creative vision behind each collection.

Ultimately, my role was about connecting the dots between customer, trend, creativity and commerciality — creating product that not only looked right, but performed.

My career at M&S has been defined by continual growth, progression and exposure to new creative challenges. I joined as a Design Assistant fresh out of university, gaining experience across Multi Product and the wider M&S brand portfolio before specialising across Soft Product categories. Working across different departments and product areas has given me a broad understanding of the M&S customer, while continually developing my creative, commercial and product expertise.