Free People Senior Designer - Jackets & Outerwear

Free People; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision benefits

Generous employee discounts

Retirement savings

Job summary

Free People is hiring a Senior Designer – Jackets & Outerwear in Philadelphia. The role demands a creative designer with extensive experience in outerwear and a strong fashion aesthetic. You will work closely with various departments to deliver innovative designs that reflect the Free People brand.

The ideal candidate possesses a solid technical background and a portfolio showcasing creativity in jacket design. This position offers a unique opportunity to contribute to a leading fashion category.

Qualifications

• 9+ years of industry experience in Jackets, Wovens, or Outerwear.
• Professional portfolio demonstrating creative and technical skills.
• Ability to communicate design ideas clearly through sketches.

Responsibilities

• Identify and translate fashion trends into concept direction.
• Develop monthly design ideas for jackets and outerwear.
• Lead technical design setups and attend fittings.

Skills

Fashion point of view

Technical understanding of jackets

Creativity

Strong taste level

Ability to mentor

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion/Apparel Design

Tools

Adobe Creative Suite

CAD

Procreate

Job description

Role Summary

Free People is seeking a Senior Designer – Jackets & Outerwear to help shape one of our most expressive and detail-driven categories. This role is for a designer with a strong fashion point of view, deep technical understanding of jackets and apparel construction, and the ability to translate concept into product that feels unmistakably Free People. We are looking for someone who can bring a feminine hand to jackets and outerwear while pushing the category to feel cool, modern, effortless, and emotionally compelling. The Senior Designer will play an active role in concept direction, monthly design development, fittings, technical setup, presentation, vendor communication, and cross-functional partnership, while also supporting and mentoring junior team members. This person should be equally excited by silhouette, construction, fabric, wash, trim, artwork, embellishment, and the small details that make a jacket feel special. At Free People, we design for the Free Spirit: smart, creative, confident, adventurous, romantic, tough, and entirely herself.

Role Responsibilities

• Identify emerging fashion trends, and translate them into concept direction that feels relevant, aspirational, and brand-right for the Free People customer.
• Develop monthly concept direction for Jackets & Outerwear, including silhouette, fabric, wash, trim, artwork, and embellishment ideas.
• Create and communicate design ideas through sketching, digital tools, draped or sewn mock-ups, AI-assisted exploration when appropriate, and other visual communication methods.
• Edit the assortment to create a thoughtful balance of ideas against the business line plan, ensuring the category has range, newness, emotional product, and commercial clarity.
• Create compelling, presentation-ready digital decks on a monthly basis for design leadership, with an eye toward elevation, clarity, and efficiency.
• Lead technical design setups with strong attention to detail, ensuring accuracy across technical sketches, BOMs, design packages, construction notes, pattern translation, and handoff to Technical Design.
• Attend fittings and contribute to fit, construction, proportion, and detail problem-solving throughout the development process.
• Partner closely with Merchandising, Product Development, Technical Design, Production, and Sourcing to ensure designs are creative, executable, and aligned with business objectives.
• Mentor and guide junior team members through research, sketching, design development, package execution, technical accuracy, and day-to-day priorities.
• Communicate ideas clearly and collaboratively in key meetings, inspiring confidence across Design, Merchandising, Production, and leadership partners.
• Bring flexibility, curiosity, positivity, and a generous creative spirit to the team and the work.

What We’re Looking For:

• A highly creative designer with a clear fashion point of view, strong taste level, and deep understanding of the Free People customer.
• A balance of creativity and technical discipline, with the ability to move fluidly between concept, presentation, development, fittings, and execution.
• Experience, taste, and a strong perspective on print, artwork, embroidery, beading, embellishment, and other surface details as they relate to apparel design.

Role Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Fashion/Apparel Design preferred.
• 9+ years of industry experience in Jackets, Wovens, Outerwear, Dresses, or a closely related apparel category strongly preferred.
• Professional portfolio demonstrating creative vision, jacket/outerwear design ability, technical understanding, and an aesthetic relevant to the Free People brand.
• Fluency in digital design and presentation tools, including Adobe Creative Suite; experience with CAD, Procreate, AI-assisted design tools, PLM systems, or related apparel design platforms preferred.
• Ability to sketch and communicate design ideas clearly through hand sketching, digital sketching, CAD, mock-ups, or other relevant visual tools.
• Ability to work on‑site 3–5 days per week at our World Headquarters in Philadelphia, PA.

The Perks

URBN offers comprehensive Perks & Benefits to employees. Availability and eligibility to specific benefits may be subject to your location and employment status. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, PTO, generous employee discounts, retirement savings and much more! For additional information visit www.urbn.com/work-with-us/benefits

EEO Statement

URBN celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We are proud to provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, sex (including gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression), religion, creed, age, physical or mental disability, national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, citizenship, service in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic as established by law. We believe strongly in fostering a safe, fair and respectful work environment. To ensure compliance with our non-discrimination and anti-harassment policies, we offer anti-harassment training to managers and employees.