From SIMMS:
Simms Fishing Products, preeminent manufacturer of waders, outerwear, footwear, and technical apparel in fishing, announces the addition of Fred Dennis to their Leadership Team as the Senior Director of Apparel Design & Development.
Fred has a long history in the outdoor apparel industry. He joined Columbia Sportswear in 2011 as the Senior Operations Manager on the Performance Innovation Team where he led a global team in commercializing apparel technology platforms. Fred transitioned to General Manager of Outerwear at Columbia, resuscitating a down-trending business with award-winning product introductions. During his tenure at Columbia, Fred’s teams brought home numerous awards, including five (5) Best in Show awards from the Outdoor Retailer trade show and Gear of the Year from Outside, Backpacker, and National Geographic magazines.
“Simms represents one of the top brands in the fishing industry with laser focus on keeping anglers fishing longer,” said Fred. “My experience in the apparel/outerwear field absolutely complements the talented team that is already bringing innovative new products to market.”
Before Columbia, Fred led the men’s merchandising and product development as the Senior Product Line Manager for Spyder Active Sports in Boulder, CO. At Spyder, Fred helped solidify Spyder as a premium ski apparel brand recognized for developing technical outerwear and sportswear. Prior to Spyder, Fred gained experience at Sierra Designs, Lafuma and Hind in PLM and development roles.
“Simms apparel is a cornerstone of our brand. We are thrilled to add Fred’s great leadership and experience to the Simms Team,” said Lee Fromson, Simms Executive Vice President. “We know that innovation is the key to our success and Fred’s experience in new technology development is a perfect added ingredient to our apparel team.”
Fred has a true entrepreneur’s spirit and built his own business, Adventure Sewing and Design in the early 2000’s. His full service sewing and design shop provided repairs, tailoring, development services and even design and patterning to brands and individual consumers. Having learned sewing and apparel construction from his Mom when he was a young kid, Fred has hands-on experience.
Beyond his passion for apparel, Fred has been an outdoorsman his entire life – growing up hunting and fishing in rural Pennsylvania with his older brother. Fred, his wife and 3 kids are thrilled to be back in the Rockies. His family enjoys camping, hiking, fishing and skiing and they have already fallen in love with the Bozeman area.
About Simms Fishing Products:
Established in 1980, Montana-based Simms is the preeminent manufacturer of waders, outerwear and technical apparel in fishing. In 2011, Simms expanded its product offering to include expertly crafted outerwear, footwear and sportswear that gives all anglers a choice in top-end, premium products. The full line of Simms gear is available at specialty and large format retailers nationwide as well as simmsfishing.com.
