Designer Material Trend

Material Trend and Concept Design is all about shaping brand narrative through the strategic development and application of materials. As an Associate Material Trend Designer, you will work with a team of designers to ensure that a clear material vision is executed across performance footwear product categories and that is follows the seasonal design direction set by the Creative Director team.

MAJOR ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Assist in the seasonal presentation of materials and trends with palettes and imagery in line with seasonal design themes
• Meet with designers to formulate seasonal material POV and assign seasonal material briefs to appropriate supply partners
• Collaborate with Development, Sourcing, and Material teams to ensure all new material developments are properly allocated and tested to meet end use, costing, logistic, and lead time requirements
• Help create and execute material stories with cross-category themes
• Establish seasonal material toolkits for product creation team to select based on material classification and end use
• Travel to global industry events to gain insight into new developments to keep New Balance informed on the latest innovations in the market
• Collaborate with the innovation team to develop future footwear materials and processes, new applications, and evolving material related innovation
• Present new material concepts to Design, Development, and Product Line management

REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESS

• 2-4 years’ working with materials and fabrics, with direct experience in footwear/fashion design or other relevant design environment
• B.A. in Industrial, Graphic, Apparel, or Footwear Design
• Proficiency with Illustrator, Photoshop, PowerPoint, and Keynote/macOS
• Understanding of trends and how they evolve, specifically global material trends
• Strong presentation skills/ability to articulate a creative vision
• Desire to push yourself and collaborate with others in moving the brand forward