Owner, Shirley Willett, Inc.
Greater Boston Area
- Current
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- Owner at Stylometrics, Inc
- Founder / Owner at Boston Design Laboratory (Self-employed)
- President, Designer at Shirley Willett, Inc. (Sole Proprietorship)
- Education
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- Massachusetts College of Art
- Connections
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26
connections
- Industry
- Design
- Websites
Shirley Willett’s Summary
61 years experience in the fashion industry, and 3 corporations. The first, was a successful high fashion design and manufacturing company, selling to top retailers, e.g., Neiman Marcus, Bonwit Tellers, Bullocks Wilshire, Bloomingdales and many others. I set up my own factory and taught my own stitchers, created new pattern and production systems - sold it to a men'swear manufacturer after grossing a million dollars.
Awarded three engineering design grants from the National Science Foundation, in which I innovated and developed my Stylometrics Pattern Templates System, that I use to help young Boston designers, in my Boston Design Laboratory, today. Recently I was awarded the Fashion Group International-Boston Ladder Award for helping young designers up the ladder.
Five years ago I became Organizer for the Boston Fashion Industry Meetup, the first one of over 40 in the world, and is the most successful one. I started and Organize and International Fashion Alliance for Industry & Design, so that we can promote Boston fashion industry globally. Hopefully Boston can become the global center for many industries, including fashion.
Shirley Willett’s Specialties:
Fashion Designer, Engineer, and Educator. Creator of technical systems in patterns and production.
Shirley Willett’s Experience
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Owner
Stylometrics, Inc
(Design industry)
Currently holds this position
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Founder / Owner
Boston Design Laboratory (Self-employed)
(Self-Employed; Myself Only; Research industry)
May 2006 — Present (3 years 7 months)
I am a researcher in observations of present occurrences; a scientist on how history affects the present & the future; & a creator in solving problems or seeing opportunities for a better future - & committed to pass for free all my expertise & knowledge of 60 years in the industry, as a legacy to YOU. Although my field is designing, engineering & manufacturing high fashion clothing, I study the wholistic “big picture” of all industries, economics, sociology, psychology, art, science, & technology, in order to see fashion’s changing role against the whole backdrop of humanity.
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President, Designer
Shirley Willett, Inc. (Sole Proprietorship)
(Sole Proprietorship; Myself Only; Apparel & Fashion industry)
May 1968 — Present (41 years 7 months)
In 1968, Shirley Willett, Inc. began as a design and manufacturing business of suede and leather high fashion apparel, selling to top designer retailers, such as Neiman-Marcus, Bloomingdales, Bonwit Tellers, etc. We had 25 employees. The assets were sold in 1982 to a men's wear firm, but I retained the name. Since then, I have done just designing and teaching. I believe in hiring people as independent contractors, for any work to be done today.
Shirley Willett’s Education
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Massachusetts College of Art
1951 — 1955
Additional Information
Shirley Willett’s Websites:
Shirley Willett’s Interests:
Fashion Design, Fashion Engineering, & Fashion Education
Shirley Willett’s Groups:
Organizer of Boston Fashion Industry Meetup, http://fashion.meetup.com/1/
Organizer of Professional Sewers Meetup, http://fashion.meetup.com/276/
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Boston World Partnerships
Shirley Willett’s Honors:
Boston Fashion Week 2007 LADDER AWARD, by Fashion Group International - Boston
National Science Foundation - Engineering Design Grant Awards
1988 - "Apparel/Textile Codification and Image Communication Technology"
1991 - "A Computational 3-D / 2-D Model for Apparel Pattern Design and Expert System"
1992 - "A 3-D/4-D Computerized Model for Human-Machine Integration in Apparel Manufacturing Engineering".
Shirley Willett’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- new ventures
- expertise requests
- business deals
- reference requests
