The Swimwear Designer is involved in the entire product design process including market research, inspiration board development, and presentation, design, flat sketching, creating mock-ups, specing, sourcing, and fitting. The Swimwear Designer is responsible for managing design projects independently, as well as collaboratively, with the VP of Design, Merchandiser, and the Company Principal.
Position Responsibilities and Accountabilities:
Receive information and merchandise plan about delivery from the VP of Design
Attend trade fairs, and shop the market for ideas.
Ability to follow and understand the merchandise plan and collect trend information, fabric, print, color, and trims to put initial concept boards together
Present concept boards to the team: VP of Design, VP of Sales, Company Principal, and in case of licensed brands to their teams
Upon approval of initial concepts, the ability to take direction from the meeting and create specific boards for requested deliveries that fulfill the merchandise plan and capture the target customer and price points
Do trim mock-ups before finalizing concepts
CAD and/or hand-color sketches for initial board presentations
Partner with assistants who are assigned to help with any given project
Partner with sourcing all fabric, trims, and any other components needed for delivery from reliable vendors in the appropriate part of the world for the correct pricing and minimums,
After initial sign-off of delivery, work with sourcing to procure all necessary items for initial samples and duplicates with documented purchase orders.
Flat sketch CAD adopted styles in the Illustrator program
Mockup preliminary line sheets for meetings
Set up body, fabric, and trim boards to help Sales edit and Product Managers keep track of fabrics, colors, prints, and trims
Work with the Art Department to initiate all print components
Be responsible for having the garment made promptly and approved or corrected on the model
Work with the Graded patterns to develop markers for engineered designs
Keep all sketchbooks and digital archives organized
Provide style tracking chart and spec pack for patternmakers.
Schedule and attend fittings with the VP of design, principal, or product manager.
Style first protos and have new styles approved before proceeding to the final fit
Make fit comments on all corrections and communicate to the overseas office with product managers
Track the progress of samples with product managers and present fit-corrected garments at proto-fit meetings.
Communicate all design revisions to the team.
Digitally photograph and catalog style changes approved deliveries, and special make-ups as directed
Review top-of-production with Product Managers and Patternmakers for any errors
Maintain a library of fabrics, trims, artwork, and garments for future reference
Qualifications and Competencies:
College Graduate, Fashion Design major a must
Strong sense of style with the ability to transform abstract ideas into commercially viable garments and meaningful collections following timeline calendars
Must be computer literate in Word and Excel, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Indesign a plus
Must be able to illustrate fashion figures and flat sketch
Strong sewing and pattern-making background a plus
Strong work ethic
Detail-oriented ability to easily switch gears and take direction
Strong organizational, communication, and follow-up skills
Team player and self-starter
Sense of urgency and intuitive sense of priorities
Education and Experience:
3-5 years of Design experience in swimwear or intimates.