Kerrie Rogers Engle is based in Greensboro, NC and is the Pattern & Technical Design Manager for the Lee Menswear team, a Kontoor Brands Inc. brand (Formerly, VF Jeanswear). She is an advocate for 3D apparel development, and digital product creation, with 10+ years' experience in Patternmaking & Technical Design across many product categories.
THE EARLY YEARS
For as long as I can remember I was always crafting something. At a very young age I started making paper dresses for my dolls. When my father introduced me to the sewing needle the paper dresses became fabric dresses. He taught me how to thread it, and make a perfect knot at the end so that the thread wouldn’t fall through the fabric. Thereafter, I never stopped. My crafting would turn into designing, and I later found that it could make it into a career. When I toured the Consumer, Apparel, and Retail studies department at the University of North Carolina, I knew I had found the right place; at the entrance of the building housing the department, a dress form wearing a dress made of paper stood behind glass.
A month after arriving at UNCG for the fall semester in 2007, I became an active member of a student organization in the department called Threads. One of the primary events for the organization was conducting a fashion show every spring. I was wrapped up in it - designing, planning, helping, and doing whatever was necessary to make sure that the fashion show happened. I will never forget my first fashion show. The excitement, terror, and thrill of it all made me feel like I was in the right place.
In my second year at UNCG I was elected Vice President of Design for the Threads student organization. As a service to the students of the Apparel Product Design concentration, each semester I taught a Sewing Proficiency workshop to assist fellow design students in passing the sewing proficiency exam, which was at the time a requirement for beginning the studio design classes. I also utilized my crafting skills that I learned early on and provided knitting and crocheting workshops in the fall semester to help develop member's skills and socialize with fellow members. I was elected again as the Vice President of Design the following year. During my final year at UNCG I was elected as President of Threads, and lead the organization to the most profitable year yet.
After winning the YMA in December of 2009, I was offered an internship in New York City at Nautica, a subsidiary of VF Corporation. I spent the summer of 2010 as the showroom management intern. In December of 2010 I won a second YMA-FSF award, and accepted a technical design internship with John Varvatos, and spent another summer in New York in 2011.
CAREER & CONTINUING EDUCATION
In May 2013 I accepted a position at VF Jeanswear (NYSE: VFC) as an Apparel Patternmaker working with Gerber's Accumark system to create production patterns, and also with Browzwear's V-Stitcher for virtual fitting and sampling. During my time at VF Jeanswear I have worked on many different product categories for Lee Riders Women's Casual Bottoms, Lee Riders Tops, as well as Wrangler infant, toddler and girls product. In early 2019 the Jeanswear division of VF Corp. spun-off into a new company called Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE: KTB) and I accepted the position as Pattern & Technical Design Manager of Lee Menswear. I now manage a small and mighty team of patternmakers working with menswear and boy's bottoms, tops, jackets.
In December of 2018 I earned my MBA at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. I was accepted to the Bryan School in 2015, and my focus was on Supply Chain Management. I maintained my regular work schedule at VF Jeanswear throughout earning my degree by attending the courses in the evenings with the other business professionals accepted to this unique program.
Today, my career is focused as an advocate for 3D Product Creation in the Apparel industry with 10+ years experience in pattern making, product development, technical design and 3D visualization. I believe building strong cross functional relationships both within the organization and with vendors are the key to create and deliver the best in class product fit and quality to consumers. I have a passion for developing technical design talent and training both within the organization and at universities. I have a proven record in building highly skilled and agile pattern and Technical Design teams who utilize 3D Digital Product Creation to improve fit and reduce sampling rounds. I am highly skilled in Gerber Accumark Software, Browzwear's VStitcher and pattern grading across multiple consumer and category segments, including Men’s, Women’s, Plus, Youth, tops, bottoms, dresses & skirts. I have extensive experience with working with denim, non-denim, performance, and knit construction.
For as long as I can remember I was always crafting something. At a very young age I started making paper dresses for my dolls. When my father introduced me to the sewing needle the paper dresses became fabric dresses. He taught me how to thread it, and make a perfect knot at the end so that the thread wouldn’t fall through the fabric. Thereafter, I never stopped. My crafting would turn into designing, and I later found that it could make it into a career. When I toured the Consumer, Apparel, and Retail studies department at the University of North Carolina, I knew I had found the right place; at the entrance of the building housing the department, a dress form wearing a dress made of paper stood behind glass.
A month after arriving at UNCG for the fall semester in 2007, I became an active member of a student organization in the department called Threads. One of the primary events for the organization was conducting a fashion show every spring. I was wrapped up in it - designing, planning, helping, and doing whatever was necessary to make sure that the fashion show happened. I will never forget my first fashion show. The excitement, terror, and thrill of it all made me feel like I was in the right place.
In my second year at UNCG I was elected Vice President of Design for the Threads student organization. As a service to the students of the Apparel Product Design concentration, each semester I taught a Sewing Proficiency workshop to assist fellow design students in passing the sewing proficiency exam, which was at the time a requirement for beginning the studio design classes. I also utilized my crafting skills that I learned early on and provided knitting and crocheting workshops in the fall semester to help develop member's skills and socialize with fellow members. I was elected again as the Vice President of Design the following year. During my final year at UNCG I was elected as President of Threads, and lead the organization to the most profitable year yet.
After winning the YMA in December of 2009, I was offered an internship in New York City at Nautica, a subsidiary of VF Corporation. I spent the summer of 2010 as the showroom management intern. In December of 2010 I won a second YMA-FSF award, and accepted a technical design internship with John Varvatos, and spent another summer in New York in 2011.
CAREER & CONTINUING EDUCATION
In May 2013 I accepted a position at VF Jeanswear (NYSE: VFC) as an Apparel Patternmaker working with Gerber's Accumark system to create production patterns, and also with Browzwear's V-Stitcher for virtual fitting and sampling. During my time at VF Jeanswear I have worked on many different product categories for Lee Riders Women's Casual Bottoms, Lee Riders Tops, as well as Wrangler infant, toddler and girls product. In early 2019 the Jeanswear division of VF Corp. spun-off into a new company called Kontoor Brands, Inc. (NYSE: KTB) and I accepted the position as Pattern & Technical Design Manager of Lee Menswear. I now manage a small and mighty team of patternmakers working with menswear and boy's bottoms, tops, jackets.
In December of 2018 I earned my MBA at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. I was accepted to the Bryan School in 2015, and my focus was on Supply Chain Management. I maintained my regular work schedule at VF Jeanswear throughout earning my degree by attending the courses in the evenings with the other business professionals accepted to this unique program.
Today, my career is focused as an advocate for 3D Product Creation in the Apparel industry with 10+ years experience in pattern making, product development, technical design and 3D visualization. I believe building strong cross functional relationships both within the organization and with vendors are the key to create and deliver the best in class product fit and quality to consumers. I have a passion for developing technical design talent and training both within the organization and at universities. I have a proven record in building highly skilled and agile pattern and Technical Design teams who utilize 3D Digital Product Creation to improve fit and reduce sampling rounds. I am highly skilled in Gerber Accumark Software, Browzwear's VStitcher and pattern grading across multiple consumer and category segments, including Men’s, Women’s, Plus, Youth, tops, bottoms, dresses & skirts. I have extensive experience with working with denim, non-denim, performance, and knit construction.
Kerrie Rogers Engle in Greensboro, NC. Photo by Michelle Rogers February, 2020.
