Product Development Associate (Homes)

Company Description
Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE:RL) is a global leader in the design, marketing and distribution of premium lifestyle products in five categories: apparel, accessories, home, fragrances, and hospitality. For more than 50 years, Ralph Lauren's reputation and distinctive image have been consistently developed across an expanding number of products, brands and international markets. The Company's brand names, which include Ralph Lauren, Ralph Lauren Collection, Ralph Lauren Purple Label, Polo Ralph Lauren, Double RL, Lauren Ralph Lauren, Polo Ralph Lauren Children, Chaps, and Club Monaco, among others, constitute one of the world's most widely recognized families of consumer brands

Position Overview

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* Manage fabric and product development for Homes category
* Sourcing activities for new product development covering multi-brands
* Facilitate good working relationship with internal teams, NY office, suppliers and factories

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

* Detailed research of the market for new fabric trends and work with mills to develop new fabric suitable for the Ralph Lauren brand identities
* Proactively offer the fabric options and development strategy to NY design team for new season development and provide technical suggestions to mills on new fabric development options
* Work on mood boards, theme boards & material board as per captured BI
* Seasonal design development of component , mocks and samples as per the concept rigs of NY & BI
* Work with US design and vendor design team on fabric development , new ideas of mock and concepts to our
* Responsible for partnering with mills to provide a working vendor base that is reliable in quality, price and service
* Fabric Development chart monitoring for the upfront development till adopted in seasons sample stage
* Monitor and train vendors for new required format, procedures, timeline & asthetic
* Negotiation of the development roll, Salesman sample fabric delivery / Costing / MOQ and update all relevant parties for the flash costing
* Align seasonal calendar with NY , internal and vendor team
* Once a concept is selected the NY team requests for Tailoring samples and work on Flash costing.
* Ensuring the aesthetics of the brand is maintained at each stage of product development
* Working closely with internal fabric and merch team to ensure production feasibility in terms of fabrics, materials and 1st cost submission
* Update proto development excels on a regular basis wrt each vendor product category

Experience, Skills & Knowledge

* Diploma or above holder in merchandising, textile & design or relevant disciplines.
* At least 5 years product development experience in Homes category preferred with US buying office or large trading business.
* Profound Homes product and technical knowledge in high end brands products with good fashion sense.
* Experience of Homes product development including fabric R&D, construction, and washing, printing.
* Strong analytical and organizational skills:
* Ability to conduct data analysis and extract critical points for team review
* Ability to organize data and communicate findings with various audiences
* Ability to create/define processes and procedures which reflect current information flows
* Business and system maintenance, generate analysis and report from systems
* Apply business acumen to understand macro business impact of production issues
* Knowledge of construction of garment workmanship development to support Designers for the presentation of the concept Rig
* Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
* High adaptability and flexibility to changing business environments, able to work independently.
* Good team player and organized.
* Good PC skill, specially Excel, familiar with multiple systems, charts and reports