SS27
Sell & produce
Booklets to ~400 accounts
Logos · customization · customer pre-orders
China mass production
Apparel production
Case Study
Sky Manufacturing
Scaling product development, customization and design systems through four years of rapid growth.
During four years at Sky Manufacturing, I worked across seasonal product development, colour strategy, customization systems, design-team leadership and factory collaboration.
As the company's product assortment and operational complexity expanded, my role increasingly focused not only on developing products, but on creating the systems, tools and team structures that helped the work scale.
USA + China + Distributed Team2022–2026Performance Apparel & CustomizationProduct Development · Systems · LeadershipSeasonal CalendarsDesign Team ManagementBooklet SystemFactory CollaborationUSA + China + Distributed Team2022–2026Performance Apparel & CustomizationProduct Development · Systems · LeadershipSeasonal CalendarsDesign Team ManagementBooklet SystemFactory CollaborationUSA + China + Distributed Team2022–2026Performance Apparel & CustomizationProduct Development · Systems · LeadershipSeasonal CalendarsDesign Team ManagementBooklet SystemFactory CollaborationUSA + China + Distributed Team2022–2026Performance Apparel & CustomizationProduct Development · Systems · LeadershipSeasonal CalendarsDesign Team ManagementBooklet SystemFactory CollaborationUSA + China + Distributed Team2022–2026Performance Apparel & CustomizationProduct Development · Systems · LeadershipSeasonal CalendarsDesign Team ManagementBooklet SystemFactory CollaborationUSA + China + Distributed Team2022–2026Performance Apparel & CustomizationProduct Development · Systems · LeadershipSeasonal CalendarsDesign Team ManagementBooklet SystemFactory Collaboration
Process flow
Multiple seasons
in motion
Three seasons were moving at once: one in production, one in development, and the next already taking shape.
→
FW27
Develop & prepare
Prototypes
CADs · fabrics · trims
Samples + colour swatches
Fit · construction · colour approval
Photoshoot + sales / show samples
Sales reps · trade events
SS28
Research & plan
Colour + silhouette research
Forecasting · trends · direction
Early concepts
The next season begins upstream
One development system, moving simultaneously across product, sales and factory teams.
Design & Product
Research · concepts · prototypes · samples · colour
Sales / Accounts
Booklets · customization · customer pre-order
China / Factory
Sampling · approvals · sales samples · mass production
My scope
Product Development
Led concepts, CADs, sampling and production readiness across multiple seasons.
Customization Systems
Built scalable booklet systems and streamlined customization workflows.
Colour Strategy
Developed colour architecture, swatch systems and approval workflows.
Factory Collaboration
Partnered with China teams on sampling, approvals and production.
Team Leadership
Mentored designers and built structure to support growth and scale.
Process & Systems
Created processes, tools and information systems to reduce complexity and scale.
As the assortment expanded, the challenge shifted from delivering individual outputs to keeping products, information and teams moving together.
Role evolution / scale
How the role evolved as the business scaled
As Sky grew
More seasons, more accounts and more customization increased complexity across product, sales and China.
The challenge
Maintain speed and quality while building structure, visibility and systems that could scale with the business.
My contribution
Created systems, scaled processes, and built team capability to deliver consistently across multiple seasons.
Booklet evolution / customization systems
V1
Basic brochure
Initial booklet for logos and simple customization.
V2
Expanded system
Added more styles, options and clearer organisation.
V3
Scalable platform
Modular system with variants, clear hierarchy and easy updates.
From simple brochure to scalable customization platform—built for speed, clarity and growth.
Product development across seasons
From initial concept to production readiness.
Concept
Prototypes
Sampling
Fit & Construction
Colour & Materials
Approvals
Production Support
Colour strategy
Built seasonal colour direction and swatch systems that aligned product architecture, trend forecasting and customer feedback with clear approval processes.
- ✓ Seasonal palettes & neutrals
- ✓ Colour placement & hero accents
- ✓ Swatch library & approval workflow
China / factory collaboration
Worked in-person with factory partners across sampling, approvals, sales samples and mass production to ensure quality, consistency and on-time delivery.
- ✓ In-person factory trips
- ✓ Sampling & fit approvals
- ✓ Production support & problem solving
Team leadership
Built a collaborative, accountable team culture across a distributed design organization.
- ✓ Training & skill development
- ✓ Clear processes & documentation
- ✓ Cross-functional communication
KH
Sky testimonial
“I’m very very thankful for you, always a member of the OG group of 5 of us.”
Keaton Hendricks
Founder
Sky Manufacturing
Impact
10
consecutive seasons
Across four years of overlapping development cycles
350+
unique apparel CADs
Across multiple categories and collections
3
China development trips
In-person collaboration for sampling & production
3
booklet generations
Evolving systems built to scale customization
7
development stages
From initial concepts to production-ready: prototypes, sampling, fit, construction, colour, trims, approvals and production support.
Reflection
Scale demands structure.
By building systems, aligning teams and staying close to both the customer and the factory, we created a foundation that could scale with Sky's ambitions.