Meet Margaret Morace: Head of Design and Product Development at Quatro
Quatro would like to welcome Margaret Morace to our growing team. Margaret, affectionately known as Margie around the office, has stepped into the role of Head of Design and Product Development and she is already making an immediate impact. Here is part of her story and what brought her to Quatro.
Work Experience
Margie graduated from Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with a BFA in Fashion Design. After graduating from Moore, she worked in NYC at a sportswear company called SKYR during a time in fashion when approximately 50% of the apparel was produced in the United States and the other 50% was produced abroad. During this time period, Margie learned how to work with factories domestically as well as with factories overseas.
After working in NYC for several years, Margie moved on to become the Design Director for a ladies’ sportswear company known as Acapella, in Pennsylvania. This company was owned by a woman who would later become the President of QVC Network, and this experience helped her learn about the business side of fashion, which she thoroughly enjoyed.
Margie’s next opportunity came with the Benetton family, where she worked for thirteen years with their family of brands called the Benetton Sportsystems. While employed there, Margie worked primarily as a technical designer and merchandiser for Prince tennis, where she learned a lot about what can make or break performance garments.
Most recently, Margie worked at Costume Gallery, a family owned and operated dance recital costume company, where she had many unique career and personal growth experiences. When Margie first arrived at the company, they had a sewing and production floor that was maxed at about 125 people. Margie felt that the brand could benefit from doing some sourcing and production in other countries, so she focused on sourcing quality factories and creating their quality assurance and quality control process, which in turn helped the company grow and become even more successful.
All of these experiences have led Margie to where she is today, working as the Head of Design and Product Development at Quatro. We are confident that Margie’s years of experience in the industry combined with her excellent work ethic and “can do” attitude will help launch our business to new heights.
An Interview with Margie Morace
An Interview with Margie Morace
I come from a family of ten children and I am the baby! At a very early age, I learned the value of appreciating the special “pluses” that everyone has to offer and I got to witness the kind of greatness that happens when all of those “pluses” come together and work as a team. Above any education that I have received, I would say that being able to see the beauty within everyone has always been the most valuable lesson I carry with me.
I was not a gymnast growing up but always loved dance. I worked in the dance industry for almost two decades, in design and product development, for a 75-year-old family-owned company that made dance costumes. I love being part of a team that provides quality and innovative apparel to young people who are striving to use their talents and energy in a positive way. It is always my hope that the garments we create for them reinforces their confidence and enhances their performance.
My official title at Quatro is Head of Design and Product Development, but I have dipped my toes into many areas of the business, including factory sourcing and establishing a new and more systematic quality control process. My most important role at Quatro is to be a leader and bring a “can do” positivity to the team while bringing open communication and encouraging “out of the box” solution finding.
We have fabulous designs! The print designs and the stonework designs are elevated and strike a great balance of being both appealing to the coaches as well as the gymnasts. However, it is really important in any business to continue to innovate, and I think we have only scratched the surface of what we are capable of doing to bring amazing products that serve our Quatro customers. It is important that we listen to our customers and bring them products they can’t live without.
This is such an exciting time for our brand because there are so many performance categories we can be serving. Over the course of the next few years, we would like to expand our reach and ultimately become the premier name in the gymnastics apparel industry. Because we strive for excellence at Quatro, one of our short term goals is to make our brand even better by fine tuning the quality and fit of our garments so that we can develop a new level of brand loyalty.
I really have not been here long enough to speak to that. I think the smaller steps I am making with my teammates daily, are building blocks to the bigger goals of the company. To me the biggest decision and commitment I make to myself everyday is to start each day like a beginner and treat everyone I meet as my teacher. That’s the cool thing about product development, each product creates different challenges and opportunities to learn something new. For me, that is what has always allowed me steady growth, personally and professionally, and provided me with opportunities to bring innovation to the products I work on and empower others around me to reach their goals.
I think that my most significant career accomplishment is yet to be seen. I would say that two of the most significant projects in my career so far include:
- How swiftly I was able to move domestic production overseas in my previous position in order to create higher profit margins and revenue for the company. I was strategic and knew where I could modify the development process while maintaining the product quality, and I was able to meet critical development dates to get the product in hand to the customer on time.
- The second most significant project I worked on with my previous employer was establishing a charitable cause for the company called “Dancing Toward a Cure.” I created a program where we would create and offer a new t-shirt design to dance studio owners to use as a fundraiser for breast cancer each year. Many of the studios would hold dance-a-thons using the t-shirt, or offer it for sale in their studio dance stores. Our company owners would then match the money raised from the sales of the shirts each year, and the funds raised would then be sent to breast cancer research charities such as City of Hope.
One of the most rewarding and enjoyable things I do outside of my job at Quatro is throwing parties and helping other people throw parties. I love using food and décor to help mark special occasions and create special memories. I also like making any day special by creating flower arrangements and special touches for our dinner table at home. My husband is a great chef. He likes to try new recipes and I like to create the presentation for the food and make inviting tablescapes. We make a pretty good team!
In addition to these hobbies, I also really enjoy drawing and making fashion illustrations. I love all things having to do with creativity and art.
