ABOUT ME
I was born in Hong Kong to a Dutch mother and an Irish father and was raised and educated in the UK before returning to Asia. It was in China that I tripped and fell into the unlikeliest of Industries, but one which has allowed me to indulge in my three passions: travel & culture, language and writing. I lived and worked for over 15 years in China, Indonesia and Hong Kong, learned Mandarin Chinese and finally carved out a professional niche for myself where writing and communication play a crucial role. Having spent much of my adult life navigating my way around the intricacies of doing business in Asia, I moved to the Netherlands in 2017.
To Industry outsiders, the idea of working in the Fashion Industry sounds incredibly glamourous. It conjours up images of a jetsetting lifestyle, catwalk shows, champagne receptions and after parties.
Reality? Endless car journeys to forgotten backwaters, trade shows, overtime, warm beer and bad karaoke..... Because I work in the back end of the Fashion Industry and this "back end" I tell you, is not sexy. It's cumbersome, disconnected and finding it incredibly hard to keep up with 21st century expectations and advances.
As the need for change is increasingly recognised, the integration of new back end technologies and workflows into complex, global supply chains will be the most influential factor in bringing about transformation. That is what makes it such an exciting - and challenging - environment to be working in right now.
I am not passionate about Fashion. You won't find me blogging about the latest fashion trends or seasonal colour palettes. What interests me is communities of people and how they are organised and communicate - whether that be on the macro industry level or the micro organisational or team level. I'm interested in the language and process of a sustainable and optimised Fashion value chain.
From my humble beginnings performing QC for small Brands in subcontracted Chinese factories, through opening a Merchandising & Sales office in Shanghai for a fabric converter, to creating Sales & Marketing Strategies from the Indonesian Factory floor of a global garment manufacturer, I have been lucky enough to have a unique window onto the Global Fashion Industry, to work with many of the Industry's leading Brands and to have some interesting stories to tell.
Through these first hand experiences, I have gained a thorough understanding of Sustainable Sourcing Best Practice and seen the outcomes of CSR policies at grass-roots level. In addition, I have developed a keen commercial acumen as well as in-depth knowledge of the various stages of the Product Lifecycle from materials processing to post-delivery of finished product. As a result, I have a proven track record of Change Management at both Corporate and Factory Level.
Get in touch for more information on how I might be able to help your business or project.
Leontina (LT)
