Who I Am

Tracey Cottingham has spent her life dreaming up wearable products to stay warm and alive in the rainforests and glacier-clad mountains of the Pacific Northwest — including the first generation of Gore-Tex outerwear. She designed for Nike and Columbia Sportswear in their formative years.

As Tracey looks back, her earlier years designing outdoor products were challenging and exciting times, with few resources with which to build product. Every part had to be created from scratch — including the sport itself.

Contact Tracey

Expertise

Live and Learn, Dream, Then Create

Today as a design consultant, Tracey calls herself a clothing architect — not only designing outdoor product through all phases of development, but also creating links between brands, factories, the supply chain and the outdoor, sport-driven human. Through freelance work, she has insight into a wide range of markets around the world, providing an eye toward successful product and brand stories, paired with what the market accepts.

Experience

Owner/Outdoor Product Architect/Design/Textile development/Market solutions/trends: Outdoor by design, Portand, Oregon, and Lopez Island, Washington
Columbia Sportswear Company, Portland, Oregon
Nike, Beaverton Oregon
Early Winters, Seattle, Washington
Schonhofen Equipment, Seattle, Washington

Education

Modeschule der Stadt Wien: Apparel and Textile Design School, Vienna, Austria
University of Washington: B.A. Apparel Design/Textile Science, Minor: Business and Marketing; Top Ten Entering Freshman Scholarship, Helen Payne Clothing Design Scholarship
Shoreline High School, Seattle, Skiwear Manufacturing Program