HEAD OF DESIGN - TEXTILES - BEDROOM & BATHROOM / PREMIUM BRAND

House Of Fashion Associates; Guildford; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

House Of Fashion Associates is seeking a hands-on Head of Design for premium textiles in bedding and bathroom. You will lead a small design team, shape product direction, and work closely with retailers and suppliers across the UK and Europe.

Based at our Manchester head office, the role involves trend research, CAD development (AVA, Illustrator, Photoshop), and presenting concepts to key customers. Expect global travel and ownership of the design calendar.

Qualifications

• 6+ years' experience in home textiles, premium bedlinen and bathroom
• Hands-on leadership in current role with team management
• Strong CAD skills in AVA, Illustrator and Photoshop
• Experience with sourcing and coordinating production and supplier visits

Responsibilities

• Lead design for premium bedding and bathroom categories, ensuring brand consistency
• Manage a small design team and coordinate with Head of Product and Directors
• Collaborate with retailers (e.g., John Lewis, Harrods) and customers on briefs
• Create CADs for packaging and care labels; provide design direction for colours and fabrics
• Present concepts confidently to customers and internal stakeholders
• Oversee samples development and ensure alignment with critical path timelines
• Travel to source fabrics, visit suppliers, and dress trade shows/showrooms
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of design trends and textile technology

Skills

CAD AVA

Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Photoshop

Presentation skills

Color theory

Time management

Interpersonal skills

Organisational skills

Pricing awareness

Microsoft Office

Education

Degree level education

Tools

AVA CAD

Adobe Suite

Job description

HEAD OF DESIGN - PREMIUM TEXTILES BEDDING AND BATHROOM

MANCHESTER - HEAD OFFICES

Our client is a very successful and well established premium Textiles brand selling into UK and European retailers. They are now looking to recruit a HOME TEXTILES HEAD OF DESIGN

(bedding / Bathroom ) to join their growing business. Candidates must have a strong background of working in Premium brand Textiles in Bedding / Bathroom and be hands on in their current role.

The role :

• Working with retailers such as John Lewis, Harrods, and many more
• This is a hand on role and managing a small team
• Working closely with the Head of Product/ directors to ensure efficient bulk production of products
• To build a relevant, growing and profitable home textile business portfolio into all targeted trade channels, in existing & new categories/geographies
• Sourcing fabrics and techniques through supplier visits overseas and global trade fairs
• Dressing trade shows and showrooms in the UK and abroad,
• Assisting the Marketing team by providing information on the inspiration behind designs and collections to create product copy
• Assisting the Product Development team by providing CADs of packaging requirements such as insert cards and care labels
• Creating exciting bedding and bathroom designs and colourways in CAD form
• Presenting confidently to customers and internal stakeholders
• Working closely with key customers on exclusive designs to their brief and their timetable
• Working on own brand portfolio from.
• Working on designs for both the UK and varied export markets
• Following design trends and adapting them to our product areas, in order to generate compelling trend resources
• Briefing suppliers in detail to allow them to produce samples to their exact specification.
• Managing the development of samples from key suppliers
• Adhering to the business’ critical path for each project
• Approval of factory submissions from strike offs/lab dips through to full samples
• Maintaining up-to-date knowledge of new design and production techniques and textile technology

SKILLS

• Strong CAD skills specifically in AVA, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.
• Excellent drawing skills and a flair for using colour creatively
• Excellent presentation skills: creating strong visual presentation material and the ability to speak confidently about design concepts.
• Ability to manage a busy workload, strong organisational skills are a must as is the ability to juggle competing demands within the role
• The ability to work to deadlines is essential
• Strong interpersonal skills for dealing with everyone from overseas suppliers through to key customers
• Diligent and organized approach to maintaining records of approvals and developments
• Passion for textiles and a desire to keep learning about this exciting product area
• Commercial acumen with ability to understand pricing architecture for target business.
• Previous experience in a commercial environment, preferably Retail or Brands.
• Willingness to undertake global travel.
• Experience of planning and dressing trade fairs is an advantage
• Experience of using Microsoft Office programs
• Educated to degree level
• Minimum 6 years’ experience in home textiles with experience in PREMIUM home textiles bedlinen bathroom
• Be hands on within the business and role