Negotiable
Aspinal of London are looking for a Senior Designer to lead the leather goods and accessories category, including bag styles, hardware, leather sourcing, and seasonal colour development, as well as soft accessories, hard accessories, jewellery, new categories as planned and agreed, belts, hats etc. You will take leadership of designing and developing new styles and collections within this category. The role involves close day-to-day design collaboration directly with the Chairman and the Product and Supply Director. You will drive design and work with our head of product development through to the manufacturing stage, contributing where you can to sourcing and manufacturing at which point responsibility will be handed over to the wider team.This is an amazing opportunity to join a small team based in West Sussex. We have a Designer Manager going on Maternity leave in September. This role will lead the team in her absence.This role will require attendance in the office at least 4 days per weekACCOUNTABLE FOR:
Supporting the creation of seasonal concept and colourCreation of new ideas and raw materialsCreation of designs and CADs to enable ideas to be delivered as a physical prototypeReviewing range plan and ensuring that all options are required to marginCreating Design Packs and specs for new ideas as briefed in pipelineSupporting Product Development in critique, construction and problem solvingManaging the Design critical path ensuring that all key dates are deliveredCreative themes and ConceptsSupport and deliver the seasonal story theme as provided by Chairman and Creative team.Colour, trend and product research. Be able to present a focused overview of relevant trend information from online, catwalks, social media, street trends etcEnsuring the creative theme is issued to key Stakeholders and collated on electronic formatManage the creation of the concept boards for theme, colour, and productConstantly evolve method of craftsmanship on all Aspinal of London product to ensure AOL is a leader in all areas of craftsmanship construction and raw materialsQuestion and review all continuity concepts for Aspinal of London heritage products and deliver new ideas and concepts
Design FunctionPresent and receive direction at the pipeline meetings for new designs, ensuring price point and raw materials are consideredApprove all Design Teams CADs and design packsResearch and understand new raw materials in the marketplace ensuring new leathers and hardware are researchedResearch all new trends in the marketplace and present ideas relevant to the brandWork closely with the Chairman on scarf designs and handover to PD to actionVisit the Flagship store monthly to understand customer need and gain retail feedbackRaw MaterialsSupport the Product Director in researching new raw materials, colours, treatments and hardwareSupport the Product Development Team in the development of new hardware and ensure it is fit for purposeEnsure wearer trials are actioned and reviewed of any new raw materialProduct CreationInitiate a smooth handover of the technical drawings to PD, ensuring all information is accurate and design is clearly explainedCover off all new areas in hard and soft accessories – Hats , Support of Jewellery and hard gifts , Scarves , belts , hats , socks, Hard keyrings , HomewareProduce high quality, accurate design specifications and technical information on Adobe Ai, including to Scale CADs for 1 st
prototypes, 2 nd
prototypes and confirmed stylesHave prior experience and knowledge of the technical aspects and construction of productKnowledgeable on all aspects of leather, fabric and metalware.Lead the Design to PD Handover meetings on all non-product actions, ensuring all action points are passed over to PD to actionWork through with the supplier and the PD manager in amending design where necessary and problem-solving, offering solutions to make the bag fit for purpose and meeting the brand DNAWork with the PD Manager on reviewing and critiquing new development samplesWorking product into cost, suggesting alternatives in construction, raw materials and supply baseDeliver knowledge on construction and methods of manufactureChairman Creative Meeting, FridayEnsure that the seasonal collection styles that are selected from pipeline and are developed in time for the season dropSupport and develop Design ideas in all areasSupport on design off all collab and special projectsManage the meeting notes out to all stakeholdersManaging all samples that are in the design remit and ensure they don’t leave the building
Prototype ManagementSupport the PD team in ensuring that Teams calls are completed to review new designs with the supply baseManage any new samples handed from PD, ensuring they are organised and able to be locatedCheck all prototypes for construction with the PD team, ensuring design intended is delivered and costs are presented from PDRange BuildingSupport the Product Director in the building of the collection according to the business needsReview and analyse sales information to ensure that collection developed meets the business needsSupport in the creation of seasonal boards for delivery of the collection to key stakeholdersEnsure that pipeline products are ready, according to the business timeline, to be dropped into the seasonal collectionCOMPENTENCIES:Confident using Excel, Design packages3D design capabilities and hand sketchingSelf-motivated and proactiveAble to conduct supplier meetingsPersonal time management and prioritisationCreative and commercial eyeDemonstrate in-depth market knowledge of the current competitive and inspirational marketplaceStrong communication skills with Aspinal team departments as well as suppliersAttention to detailStrong work ethicConfidentialityExcellent presentation skills both visual and verbalAn experienced Accessories Designer with a minimum of 5 years in role experienceFashion or Accessories Design Qualification to Degree levelDemonstrate a clear understanding of the Aspinal of London handwriting, brand DNA and our core/target customerHighly knowledgeable in colour, leather/ fabric direction and ..... full job details .....
Negotiable