top of page

Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, IDSA

Founder & Principal, Interwoven Design, Professor - Industrial Design, Pratt Institute

Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, IDSA

Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman is a distinguished expert in design and technology, focusing on human interaction, wearable products, and smart textiles. As a pioneering researcher in design methodologies and smart materials, she is a Professor of Industrial Design at Pratt Institute. With over 25 years of corporate design experience, Rebeccah served as Design Director for renowned brands like Fila, Champion, and Nike, leveraging her diverse background in performance apparel, product design, and textiles.

An accomplished author, she wrote "Smart Textiles for Designers Inventing the Future of Fabrics" along with many published articles and academic papers. Rebeccah is also an international speaker on design, innovation, and the future. She founded Interwoven Design Group, known for its innovative and thoughtful products, and is a founding partner in SEArch+, applying design expertise to extraterrestrial environments.

Her contributions have earned her recognition, including being named one of IDSA's 20/20 for promoting diversity in design. Notably, Interwoven’s design work on the APEX exosuit received prestigious accolades like the SPARK Platinum Design Award and IDEA Gold Award in 2020. Recently, Interwoven won first place in CORE 77's lifestyle category for Even Adaptive lingerie.

Beyond the Hype: Establishing Authentic Design Strategy

IDC

Panel Discussion

August 24, 2023

9:30 AM - 10:45 AM

Breakout - Majestic

Design strategy has quickly become a buzz term inside and out of the design industry. While it is a very impactful approach to design solutions and processes, the term is developing connotations of pretentiousness and corporate b.s. How can we protect design strategy and change people’s experience of it? How do we make sure we don’t get caught up in using this term lightly or lost in going through the motions? Professionals and educators will discuss their experiences with design strategy throughout their careers and share their opinions on what are and are not successful ways to execute it.

The audience will learn:
1. Various approaches and applications for design strategy, including practices to avoid and how to navigate these requests as designers
2. Considerations for design strategy in the future and tools to leverage
3. Collaboration methods between internal and external teams

bottom of page