Junior Footwear Designer

Indigo; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Employee discount

Company pension

Company events

Job summary

INDIGO in Birmingham is seeking a Footwear Designer for our women's lines. Join a creative team and help translate trends into market-ready footwear across multiple brands.

Ideal candidates have around 2 years of footwear design experience, a strong sense of fashion and proven CAD/Illustrator skills. The role offers hybrid working with three days in our Birmingham office and exposure to development from concept to production.

Qualifications

• 2 years' footwear design experience, preferably in women's footwear.
• Strong eye for fashion, colour, proportion and detail.
• Experience creating CADs using Adobe Illustrator.

Responsibilities

• Research fashion and footwear trends.
• Create mood boards, colour palettes and seasonal concepts.
• Develop ideas from concept through to sample.
• Create sketches and CADs using Illustrator.
• Collaborate with suppliers throughout sampling.
• Manage multiple styles and deadlines.
• Balance design with price, quality and commercial appeal.

Skills

Footwear design

CAD sketches

Adobe Illustrator

Trend research

Supplier collaboration

Tools

Adobe Illustrator

CAD software

Job description

Footwear Designer - Women's Fashion Birmingham | Full-time | Hybrid

Want to see your designs become real shoes? INDIGO is an established Birmingham-based fashion footwear business, founded over 30 years ago and home to the in-house brands RAID, BEBO and Be Mine. Our footwear is sold through some of the UK's leading fashion retailers, including ASOS, Zalando, Office and VERY, as well as through international and specialist retailers. We design and develop our footwear collections in-house, working closely with suppliers from the initial concept through to final production.

The Opportunity

We're looking for a creative and enthusiastic Footwear Designer to join our team and help develop our upcoming women's footwear collections. This role would suit a designer with around 2 years' footwear design experience who is looking to broaden their experience and become more involved in the full design and development process. You'll work across our brands and a variety of footwear categories, researching what's happening across fashion and translating trends and inspiration into footwear that is fashion-forward, desirable and commercially relevant.

You’ll be involved in:

• Researching fashion, footwear, colour, material and consumer trends
• Creating mood boards, colour palettes and seasonal concepts
• Developing new footwear ideas from initial concept through to sample
• Creating sketches, technical drawings and CADs using Adobe Illustrator
• Working with the wider team to develop and refine designs
• Reviewing samples and making design amendments
• Working directly with suppliers throughout the sampling process
• Managing multiple styles and sampling deadlines
• Considering design, quality, price and commercial appeal throughout the development process
• Keeping up to date with the latest trends across the high street, social media and wider fashion market

You’ll have the opportunity to follow your designs from the initial idea through to the finished product, gaining valuable experience across the complete footwear development process.

About You

We're looking for someone who is genuinely passionate about fashion and footwear and excited by the process of creating products. You'll ideally have around 2 years' experience in footwear design, although we're more interested in your creativity, potential and understanding of the product than simply the number of years on your CV. You'll ideally have:

• Experience in women's footwear design
• A strong eye for fashion, colour, proportion and detail
• A good understanding of current footwear and fashion trends
• Experience creating CADs using Adobe Illustrator
• Good sketching and visual communication skills
• An understanding of footwear construction, materials and manufacturing
• Good organisation and attention to detail
• The ability to manage multiple styles and deadlines
• Confidence communicating ideas and working with suppliers and colleagues
• A genuine interest in understanding what consumers are buying and wearing

Accessories design experience would also be an advantage. Most importantly, we’re looking for someone who is curious, creative and full of ideas - someone who naturally keeps an eye on fashion, footwear, social media and the high street, and enjoys turning inspiration into commercially relevant product.

Why INDIGO?

This is an opportunity to join an established fashion footwear business and play an important role in developing products across multiple brands and categories. You’ll have the chance to:

• Take ideas from concept to product
• Be involved throughout the design and development process and see your work progress into finished footwear.
• Work across different brands
• Gain experience designing for different customer profiles, aesthetics and footwear categories.
• Develop your commercial understanding
• Learn how to balance creativity with quality, price, customer demand and commercial opportunity.
• Work with established retailers
• Gain an insight into developing footwear for customers and retailers including ASOS, Zalando, Office and VERY.
• Build your design experience
• Take on increasing responsibility while developing your understanding of the footwear industry and the commercial design process.

What we offer

• Monday-Friday working
• Hybrid working, with 3 days per week in our Birmingham office, depending on location
• Employee discount
• Company pension
• Company events

  Location

  Birmingham

  West Midlands

  GB

  B1 1