What are the responsibilities and job description for the Creative Apparel Designer (Remote in Minneapolis) position at Unrivaled Teamwear?
About Unrivaled Teamwear
Unrivaled Teamwear serves as the parent company of Champion Teamwear, Gear for Sports, and Knights Apparel, each an industry leader in the sports and team apparel space.
Our family of brands know what goes into great decorated garments, using top-quality fabrics and offering creative decoration options. Each brand offers customers a premier selection and exceptional service for all their sportswear needs, from t-shirts and caps to fleece, performance wear, and outerwear.
Overview
As a Creative Designer for our PRO division, you will use your advanced design skills to create Market Right Product for a fashion forward, youthful customer seeking Sports Heritage infused Lifestyle apparel options. Balancing Sports Culture with Retail Trends, you will work with merchandising/design leadership and partner teams to ensure design feasibility to meet price points and Brand needs in accordance with the Timing & Action Calendar deadlines.
You will have proven your ability to design across Brands, Genders and Product Categories to obtain this position. You will need to be able to communicate and present Design Proposals/Concepts that encapsulate all aspects of design - color, fabric, silhouette, trim, fit, construction, & marketing. You will need to be able to liaison with key partner teams in Technical Design, Brand, Sourcing, QA, Country Managers and Graphics. This opportunity involves maintaining deep understanding of current trends through travel, research & interaction with sales reps, their customers and our consumers. In addition, participation in activities that will increase understanding and working knowledge of market is obligatory. Must be able to act as a seamless extension with aligned Brand and Retail Partners.
At a full Designer level, the expectation is that the individual has obtained significant experience, exposure, and mastery of daily workload. Responsibilities begin at concept, carry through to material/trim sourcing and approval, claim validation, and into creating accurate production BOMs.
- Multiple categories are managed. Ie: unisex men's, women's, youth, infant, etc...
- Works across Brands / Divisions and with multiple partner teams
- Problem solving is a constant part of job responsibility. Communication, tracking and recall are excellent.
- Carries a full workload as well as extra as needed. Has full understanding of business needs and product cycle
- Demonstrates a commitment to refining the team/ processes and will help train individuals
- Is an expert presenter to internal and external partner; able to develop compelling visuals season after season
Job Responsibilities
Conceptual Design Skills:
- Proven ability to apply & perform design skills such as drawing/sketching, color concepts, use of fabric & trim, as well as visual presentation & layout
- Ability to analyze trends; break them into mega, niche or landscape categories and develop a compelling Ideation distilling the trends to partner teams
- Ability to track and design into fit/ratio/proportion changes in market and interpret them thru the lens of our niche market. Further ability to present these trends in customer facing visits and sales meetings
- Ability to find, research, and create innovative fabrics and trims
- Able to identify potential problems and proactively address before committing to the Line
- Ability to identify key colors and/or develop colors into interesting, market-right color palettes in fabric, trim, print/patterns. Further ability to execute into well merchandised lines •Able to develop clear, illustrated flats of garments that can be used to decide line worthiness & technical execution
- Able to understand Brand's requirements (via Line List) and meld concepts with the Ideation & Fabric/Trim development. Further ability to present ideas persuasively, passionately and technically to partner teams
- Able to understand and communicate construction concepts well enough to translate, with technical design, into measurement specs and technical drawings
- Able to work on the aesthetic execution of fit with Technical Design in the build process
Business Acumen:
- Demonstrated acumen and considered an internal expert for assigned product/brand
- Ability to create market appropriate product designs at key price points
- Adherence to the Timing & Action Calendars of multiple businesses that run parallel to each other
- Proven ability to identify trends and translate into market right product
- Communicate via e-mail daily both internally & externally
BOM Builds:
- Distill sketch/color ups and materials into an organized BOM
- Provide info for placement of fabrics and trims
- Designate specialty issues like "Washes", "Raw Edge", etc...
- Understand functionality of coding
- Responsible for overall completeness of information
- Track & communicate expectations on sampling
Weekly Meetings:
- Responsible to bring up issues & potential solutions at the weekly Brand Management meetings Responsible to contribute to the agenda
- Responsible to bring relevant samples, material, etc. to these meetings as needed
Team Contribution:
- Ability to work independently and cooperatively in a diverse group
- Ability to identify & resolve opportunities within the organization for improvement
- Able to take on extra workload to ease burden of entire team
- Able to troubleshoot creative design issues
- Responsible for analyzing existing systems, processes & tools to streamline the workload
Professionalism:
- Ability to conduct oneself in accordance to our Corporate Values, as well as to show accuracy & competence in one's daily workload
- Ability to be a good representative of the company in high level meetings / situations
- Ability to maintain working area, samples, and tools in a way that is easily accessed by other team members and self
Work Ethic and Spirit:
- Ability to be a positive influence combined with the ability to execute
- Demonstrates a willingness to look beyond the job scope to further develop self and career
- Demonstrates true commitment to the company thru daily contributions
Travel or conference to work on:
- Execute seasonal development of styles including retailing, trade shows, and education
- Review current production & make decisions as needed; present findings to the team
- Work on future dev concepts to be shared w/ the Brand Management Teams
May Also Include:
- Manage Label / Hangtag / Sub-Label, Packaging etc.… Trims
- May need to initiate development
- Enable art sends to vendors as well as advise partner teams regarding project
- Receive and comment on submits / log and file as necessary
- Perform mass updates in PDM
Minimum Qualifications
- 4-year degree in Fashion/Apparel or Related degree plus a min of 4 years’ experience or 2-year degree plus a minimum of 5 years’ experience
- Must be proficient in Microsoft Office, Adobe Illustrator and Creative Suite programs
- Tech Packs (PDL/PLM) knowledge/working experience required
- 3D experience preferred (Browzwear a plus)
- Familiarity using AI
- Proficiency in garment sketch development and construction.
- Working knowledge of pattern making, understanding fit / balance of garments, grading and garment constructions. Ability to communicate aesthetic fit direction.
- Strong written and verbal communication to all partner teams; including meeting presentations. Able to upload relevant info to supervisor(s).
- Experience developing and executing PRO Apparel strongly preferred
This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of all activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the associate. Other duties will be assigned as needed.
EOE/AA: Minorities/Females/Veterans/Disabled
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
We maintain a drug-free workplace and perform pre-employment substance abuse testing as well as participate in E-Verify.
