Co-Lab54

Co-Lab54 is an international consultancy specializing in product development and production, set up to find short, medium and long-term solutions for fashion companies of all shapes and sizes.  Its aim is to work together with you to find solutions that fit your company’s strategy and structure. This is not about re inventing the wheel; it is about making it run faster and more smoothly.

Skilled at identifying, planning and delivering development and strategy solutions in organisations large and small, I am an experienced project manager with over 20 years in the fashion industry covering such areas as department setup and management, collection range planning, key dates calendar creation, PLM implementation, and the development of sourcing strategies for long term success.

Recent positions include development director for an international runway line, interim fabric manager for a sportswear brand, and project manager creating a department setup for a luxury brand’s apparel and accessory lines, which involved devising job specifications and a key dates calendar, range building, merchandising, and delivering strategic development and sourcing solutions.

Currently, I am leading a project on the implementation of a PLM (product lifecycle management) system for a recently relaunched international brand.

I offer consultancy on planning, strategy, including hands-on assistance with product development and production, in the following areas:

> Building sourcing strategies
> Department setup and management
> Range planning
> Key dates and calendar set up
> PLM (product lifecycle management) implementation

In addition, I offer mentoring and coaching, as well as workshops designed to enhance the understanding of all the relevant issues, for staff in organizations dealing with the above tasks.

The Concept : Range Planning : Reviewing

Inspired by the book Blue Is The New Black, these workshops are being developed for individuals and companies alike to demystify complicated processes making them accessible for all.

The Concept: How do magazine pages and scraps of fabric relate to a clothing collection?

Range Planning: Learn to plate spin and juggle all for the sake of a fashion line.

Reviewing: From prototype to production - the art of the perfect review.

‘‘This book is an absolute must-read for everyone working in fashion or with ambitions to do so.’’ Mariëtte Hoitink

Blue Is The New Black presents a practical overview, basic but detailed, of the heart of every fashion company: development and production. These are in most cases the teams that work together most intensively with all other departments – from design to legal, sales and marketing. This obviously makes this book a Bible for everyone with ambitions for careers in the buying, product development, and of course, production area.

But they are not the only ones for whom this is relevant; for all those fashion professionals who work in design, marketing, sales, CSR, legal and financial departments, this book will provide some insight into why they occasionally find their production colleagues reaching their boiling points, running through corridors screaming and banging their heads against walls. I would highly recommend the general reader curious about clothes to give this book a go as well.

Blue Is The New Black on Facebook

Susie Breuer
Email: susie@co-lab54.com
Tel: +31 620 958 768

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