Erica Cottrell
About Erica Cottrell
Erica Cottrell serves as the Global Senior Design Manager for Mountain Sports Climb and Trail at The North Face, a position she has held since 2021. With a background in design from Parsons School of Design and extensive experience in the outdoor apparel industry, she has contributed to various companies including Burton Snowboards and Outlier Tailored Performance.
Work at The North Face
Erica Cottrell serves as the Global Senior Design Manager for Mountain Sports Climb and Trail at The North Face, a VF Company. She has held this position since 2021, contributing to the design and development of outdoor sports apparel and equipment. Prior to her current role, she worked as the Global Design Manager for Climb at the same company starting in 2019. Erica's tenure at The North Face spans over three years, during which she has been based in Denver, Colorado.
Education and Expertise
Erica Cottrell studied at the Parsons School of Design, where she earned an Associate of Arts and Sciences (A.A.S.) degree from 2009 to 2011. She also holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder, which she completed from 2004 to 2008. Her educational background provides a strong foundation for her expertise in design and product development within the outdoor sports industry.
Previous Work Experience
Before joining The North Face, Erica Cottrell gained extensive experience in product design and development across various companies. She worked as a Product Designer/Developer at Outlier Tailored Performance from 2010 to 2013. She then served as Product Design Manager at Topo Designs from 2017 to 2019. Earlier in her career, she held positions at Burton Snowboards as an Associate Technical Designer for Softgoods and at Tracksmith as a Product Designer/Developer. Additionally, she completed an internship at Zac Posen in 2010.
Career Timeline
Erica Cottrell's career in design spans over a decade, beginning with her internship at Zac Posen in 2010. She transitioned to roles at Burton Snowboards and Tracksmith before moving to Outlier Tailored Performance. After three years at Outlier, she joined Topo Designs, where she worked for two years. In 2019, she began her journey at The North Face, initially as Global Design Manager for Climb, before advancing to her current role as Global Senior Design Manager in 2021.