Global Brand Marketing, Inc. announced the appointment of Ralph Serna to vice president of design. Mr. Serna will oversee all aspects of product design for GBMI’s portfolio of brands including Pony International LLC, Dry-shoD, FunFlopps of Santa Barbara, and for its licensed footwear brands such as Diesel, Nautica, XOXO, and Mecca. The large group of designers and graphic designers will now all report to him.

“We are thrilled to have Ralph join our team and lead the product vision and creative direction for all of our brands,” said Killick Datta, CEO of Global Brand Marketing, Inc. “GBMI prides itself on being a design led company that is globally respected. Each of GBMI’s brands has established a reputation in the industry for having the most innovative designs by staying one step ahead, and never copying the competition.”

Mr. Serna joins GBMI with nearly twenty years of footwear industry experience specializing in design for global and regional product collections. Prior to joining GBMI, Mr. Serna was director of design for Doc Martens Airwair International in London and previously held several senior product design positions such as director of design at American Sporting Goods, vice president of design at Vans, Inc., director of footwear design at Reebok International, Ltd., director of international design at Mizuno USA and senior director of design and development at Etonic, Inc..

Mr. Serna will be based in the corporate offices in Santa Barbara, CA, and reporting to CEO Killick Datta.