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
- The opportunity to work across established women’s fashion footwear brands
Interested?
If you’re passionate about footwear, have a strong creative eye and want to be involved in creating products from the first idea through to the finished shoe, we’d love to hear from you.
Please send us your CV and portfolio. We’d particularly like to see examples of footwear you’ve designed and developed.
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