April 21, 2015

Fashion merchandising expert Lauren Ohtake will visit on Tuesday, April 28 as the Design & Merchandising program’s annual Distinguished Speaker. Founder of the full-service merchandising consulting agency, True and Free LLC, Ohtake will speak to students about her experiences in senior merchandising and product development positions including at Donna Karan New York (DKNY), VINCE, and rag & bone. The lecture, which will take place at 6:00pm in the URBN Annex Screening Room (3401 Filbert Street), is free to the public.

At DKNY Ohtake served as the Director of Merchandising and Product Development. At rag & bone she established the merchandising department and served as its Senior Director, and at VINCE, a $270 million company, she served as VP of Merchandising.

True and Free LLC offers merchandising consultation and analytical strategy, tailoring its expertise to each client in fabric selection, silhouette balance, trend offering and building and maintaining brand identity. Their clients include Altuzarra, BLK DNM, Curriculum Vitae, Tabula Rasa, Tim Coppens and Timo Weiland.

Past D&M Distinguished Guest Speakers have included Diane Ellis, President and COO of Brooks Brothers, Angela Ahrendts, CEO of Burberry and Aaron Magness, then the Senior Director of Brand Marketing and Business Development for Zappos, among others. For more information about the event, please contact Professor Catherine Byers at catherine.f.byers@drexel.edu.