Trudy has over 25 years of experience in the fashion industry, spanning from publishing, to her role as VP of Marketing and PR at JA Apparel Corp. With a background in footwear, intimates, junior, women’s, and men’s luxury fashion, her strength is in building and promoting brands through strategic and innovative marketing initiatives.
In her tenure with Candie’s, she was part of the iconic campaign that relaunched the brand, creating exceptional exposure, and allowing the product to gain entry and be sold not only at Macy’s, but at Bergdorf Goodman concurrently. While at Candie’s she was a co-founder of the Candie’s Foundation, a non-profit organization with the mission of educating teens about the consequences of teen pregnancy.
As Vice President of Marketing and PR, Trudy oversaw brand strategy and execution for the Joseph Abboud brand at better department stores, and the launch of the JOE Joseph Abboud brand at JC Penney. While in this position she has implemented strategic partnerships with the NFL, NBA, US Olympics, and major TV networks. During the first 6 months of 2010 she was able to generate over a billion media impressions through public relations initiatives. She also conceived of, and oversaw the launch strategy for JOE with JC Penney, including an editor event at the legendary Cage basketball courts in downtown NYC, featuring NBA top draft pick Blake Griffin, and NY Knicks legend Allan Houston, among others; a consumer event closing down the streets outside of Manhattan Mall for a Fashion Show on Sixth Avenue featuring Walt Frazier and John Starks, and an NBA Fan Experience event, attended by more than 25,000 people; and a store-line District Manager’s meeting, with a fashion show featuring Emmit Smith and Terry Bradshaw. Trudy also launched Welcome Home Joe, an initiative to give $1million worth of clothing to returning veterans as they re-enter the workforce.
Trudy lives with her husband and son in Tewksbury, New Jersey where she is an accomplished equestrian, and is involved as a volunteer in equine therapy for the disabled. Trudy has spoken at Columbia Business School on Marketing and on panels for Advertising Women of New York, and is a contributing fashion correspondent on Peter Greenberg’s Travel Today nationally syndicated radio show.