Ocean view with blue sky, two large rocky formations in the water, and dry bushes in the foreground.
Portrait of a woman smiling with light brown hair, wearing a teal shirt, against a gray background.

Bio

I'm Bulgarian-born, California-raised, and New York-based; a design director with fifteen years building performance and intimate apparel for brands people actually know.

Before fashion, I was an archaeologist and a linguist. I excavated in Greece and Egypt before deciding I wanted to build things rather than uncover them. Early in my career I was part of the founding team that built ThirdLove from nothing, which taught me how to think about product without the guardrails of an established company.

Since then I've led design at Victoria's Secret PINK and run the Under Armour underwear license; picking up an MSL in Fashion Law from Fordham somewhere along the way.

I think about apparel as both a technical problem and a human one. The best product solves both: it performs, it fits real bodies, and it's made in a way that doesn't pretend the supply chain doesn't exist.

I care about the people I work with and the planet we work on.

I'm most interested in the harder problems: what performance apparel should become, how you protect the innovations that make it possible, and how you build something genuinely good within the constraints of a real business.

Career Highlights

  • Master of Studies in Law (MSL) in Fashion Law Fordham Law School

    Advanced Associate's Degree in Fashion Design FIDM

    Master's Degree Work in Egyptology  UCLA

    Bachelor's Degree in Classical Archaeology & Linguistics  UT-Austin

  • Design & Development: Apparel Design & Development, Line Development & Styling, Concept Design, Innovation, Seamless Knitting Expert , Dye & Wash Development, Graphics Technique Development, Costing, Patterns

    Technical: Adobe Creative Suite , RaspberryAI, CaimeraAI, ClaudeAI, Browzwear 3D, Rhino 3D, FlexPLM , Microsoft Office

    Leadership: Team Manager, Cross-Functional Collaboration, Team Mentorship, Management Experience, Strategic Vision

    Languages: English (Fluent) , Bulgarian (Native Speaker), French (Intermediate Written)

  • Professional Awards: McKinsey Management Accelerator, 2026; People Leader - Internship Program, 2025; Foundations of Leadership, 2025; PINK for All Leader (2020-2021); Most Marketable Collection, FIDM DEBUT 2011

    Academic Honors: Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society; M.S.L. Student Award for Academic Achievement, Fordham Law School (2025); Magna Cum Laude, Fordham Law School (2025); Honor Roll, FIDM (2009-2011); Dean's List, UCLA (2007-2008); Summa Cum Laude Ampla & Magna, UT-Austin (2007)

    • Before entering the fashion industry, I excavated a major Mycenaean period pottery workshop in Mycenae, Greece and managed the excavation of a complex stratified site in Mendes, Egypt. The work taught me meticulous documentation, long-range pattern recognition, and genuine comfort with complexity - all of which I use daily.

    • My MSL thesis — DESIGNED TO FAIL? Reforming Fashion Through Professional Governance and Certification — proposes a regulatory governance model for the fashion industry grounded in original survey research of design professionals. It started as an academic project and became something I actually believe in.

Contact me