G-III Apparel Group, Ltd Looking for DESIGN DIRECTOR – WOMENSWEAR at New York, New York Full Time

About the job

About G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. | www.g-iii.com

G-III excels at bringing excitement and confidence to customers through the fashion we create. We are global experts in design, sourcing, manufacturing, distribution and marketing, which enables us to fuel the growth of a substantial portfolio of brands. With more than 30 licensed and owned brands, including some of the most sought-after names in global fashion, our success is driven by our team’s entrepreneurial spirit and our deep relationships across the industry.

G-III’s owned brands include DKNY, Karl Lagerfeld Paris, Donna Karan, Vilebrequin, Sonia Rykiel, G.H. Bass, Bass Outdoor, Andrew Marc, Eliza J., GIII Sports and more. G-III has fashion licenses under the Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Cole Haan, Dockers, Guess?, Kenneth Cole, Levi’s, Vince Camuto, Margaritaville and more. G-III also operates retail stores for the DKNY, Karl Lagerfeld Paris and Donna Karan brands.

Success Profile:

The Womenswear Design Director leads the Design Team to set the creative vision for each season. Directs and manages the Design Team to create and design a competitive fashion apparel product line that strikes a balance between relevant commercial product and brand right emotional fashion, that will collectively grow the business according to the brand strategic and financial objectives for the customer.

This is an exciting time for a proven Design Director with ten years of experience in a Women’s Design leadership role for a global fashion lifestyle apparel brand to join the G-III team as a Womenswear Design Director!

Location (On-Site): New York City, Midtown Manhattan – Fashion District

Key Accountabilities:

• Line Development: Ensures that there is a synergy/common thread running through each line within the category, and that the season’s vision is accurately captured; Generates fresh, unique ideas and concepts through research: new fabrics, design techniques, etc.
• Retail & Competitive Landscape: Maintains on-going awareness of the category’s impact and presence at retail, traveling to company-owned stores and key department store accounts as often and for as long as business demands; keenly in tune to the competition and brand strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
• Design Team Management: Leads a diverse creative team to design at the speed of fashion; Cultivates design talent – trains, developments, performance manages – direct reports and contract resources; Retains and attracts high performing talent
• Fiscal Accountability: Effectively manages and ensures adherence to design budget and calendar, including sample budgets, shipping budgets, etc.

Education and Experience:

• Ten (10) or more years of Design Leadership experience for a global fashion lifestyle women’s apparel brand, required
• Proven ability to manage a Design Room, required
• College degree, or equivalent professional work experience, required

Skills and Behaviors:

• Proven ability to lead a design team to design at the speed of fashion and to cultivate design talent – training, development, performance management – direct reports and contract resources
• Development process expertise with reputational excellence working with overseas factories and vendors
• Fashion savvy with the critical ability to identify and interpret commercially viable trends
• Technical skill proficiency using Adobe Creative Suite: Photoshop, Illustrator
• Motivated to work in a high energy environment at the speed of fashion with ever-changing priorities
• Confident, capable, engaging and highly effective cross-functional written/verbal communication, teaming and interpersonal skills

Candidate Requirements:

• CV/Resume AND Work Samples (Portfolio URL) Required for Initial Consideration