Senior Designer - Fashion

Role: Senior Designer – Freelance - Minimum 8 weeks 

We are the people of Sahara. We are unconstrained. Our adventurous spirit leads us beyond the High Street to destinations lesser known. For clothes that mean more. That add to the story of our lives. We are unique. Try and pin us down, it doesn’t work. Label us and it won’t stick. We believe that demographics divide, age is just a state of mind and body type is what each one of us sees in the mirror. We are leaders. Visionaries in our own right. Creative, passionate - and only ever underestimated once.
 
Sahara is a family-run business that creates collections for the free-spirited, independent woman. We are now seeking a creative and talented Senior Designed to join our Design Team based in Primrose Hill. 
 
The Senior Designer will work closely with Design, Production and Merchandising teams on the product strategy, development and design of the new womenswear line.

Further, the Senior Designer will work closely with our Founder and Creative Director. 
The Senior Designer will also be responsible for ensuring that our Sahara’s collections are brought to market in a timely and profitable manner. 

The role: 

• Create seasonal mood boards with Design Team and Creative Director
• Develop colour palettes for each season
• Create new collections each season true to Sahara’s brand DNA
• Produce sketches, preferably cadded (hand drawn is acceptable too), to present to the Creative Director for range selection
• Be considerate of current and previous product performance
• Research existing trends within Sahara’s archive and develop new potential commercial styles for the collection
• Identify new product areas to complement the Sahara offer
• Regularly review and analyse what makes a Sahara’s ‘best sellers’, likewise, understand why a product might be underperforming
• Visit Sahara own brand stores to review the collections
• Visit relevant fabric/trims tradeshows in the UK and overseas to source materials to include in upcoming collections
• Source new cloths and trims for each season
• Create technical packs for selected designs with specification sheets
• Attend fit meetings
• Establish and manage the content and size of the collection during development, editing where necessary to produce options required by merchandisers and buyers
• Select most effective styles for extra stock programmes 

You:

• A lover of fabric, colour and print 
• Experience in womenswear design
• Strong product development experience
• Exceptional technical knowledge
• Clear communicator
• Keen eye for trends and industry standards – deep interest in global fashion
•  Knowledge of fabric dying techniques
• Knowledge of female body measures
• Knowledge of garment construction
• Display basic understanding of pattern cutting 
• Cad skills are preferable

Please apply with your CV and example of your work or link to your portfolio.