Senior Embroidery Designer

Working at Stella McCartney is a truly rewarding experience. As a luxury fashion company with a strong ethical standpoint we are leaders and innovators in our industry.

Senior Embroidery Designer

The Senior Embroidery Designer role involves leading all aspects of embroidery design, research and development process, through to final prototyping for the RTW collections. The role will report to the Head of Fabric and Embellishment and collaborate closely with the Creative Director and Design Director.

Key Responsibilities: 

Research:

• Creating image research packs to present to the design team for input into the mood and direction of the collection. This could include, online, at libraries etc.
• After understanding the collection themes and mood, research embroidery techniques through supplier swatch requests, in house swatches and vintage.
• Create research boards for embroidery stories to present to the design teams and creative director when needed.
• Research into new and existing embroidery materials with sustainability in mind.  
• Keep up to date with embroidery in the market in terms of brand competitors.

Development and Collaboration:

• Select embroidery materials to match our creative, price and sustainability ideals.
• Make in house swatches to demonstrate ideas to the design team and if selected to the suppliers.
• Make tech packs and launch factory made swatches to be allocated to garments within woven, knit, denim and jersey categories.
• Present swatches in stories to the Creative Director and Design Director.
• Launch final factory embroideries for the collection, including instructing material procurement and pattern placements.
• Making sure that these launches are in line with the development timing and budget.
• Collaborate closely with the product development and embroidery team in Italy to ensure all parties have a clear understanding of what is required for the final collection
• Create, design and develop embellishment trims that have high visual impact and add value.
• Create detailed technical drawings and specifications for these trims. 
• Collaborate with the trims team in Italy to ensure they follow prototyping, in testing, and validation processes.
• Lead all embroidery development for VIP and special projects and collaborations such as The Met Gala, Musician requests and VIP wedding requests.
• Keep track of the seasonal embroidery budget and make sure stores are hitting merchandising targets.

Production

• Amend artworks for production making appropriate changes for price targets or function.
• Check all production artworks over full size ranges.
• Launch production swatches where needed for price or technical reasons.

Communication and Supplier Relations:

• Ensure constant research into new and existing suppliers in the markets via sourcing meetings and trade fairs.
• Negotiate prices and ensure timely delivery of embroideries. 
• Ensure suppliers are aware of our sustainability requirements.
• Ensure the embroidery archive is kept neat, tidy and up to date.

Ideal Skills/Experience:

• At least 5 years or experience in luxury fashion embroidery.
• Expertise in various embroidery and fabric manipulations techniques eg. threadwork, beading, broiderie anglaise, sequins, hotfix, etc.
• Established relationships with embroidery suppliers in the luxury market.
• Understanding of fabric, garment construction and manufacture.
• Meticulous focus on colour matching, stitch quality, and design accuracy
• Ability to troubleshoot issues and find solutions to technical challenges during the design and production
• Excellent Photoshop and Illustrator knowledge.
• Good presentation skills.
• Strong organizational and time management skills are essential for managing multiple projects and deadlines. 

Reward

Our philosophy is to go beyond monetary return and consider ourselves responsible for your wellbeing, your family, your health, your time and the community.

• Up to 50% discount on Stella McCartney products

• Matched pension contribution up to 6%

• Extensive private medical and critical illness insurance, as well as life assurance

• Annual Health Screening

• 25 days annual leave (not including Bank Holidays) + 1 day of Birthday leave

• Flexible working/core hours

• Enhanced Maternity/paternity packages

• Matched Give as You Earn charity scheme

• Discounted gym and fitness memberships (Classpass) 

• Health cash plan

• Physical and Mental Wellbeing Support Services

• Employee referral bonus

• Optional/ Paid Benefits: Season ticket loan, cycle to work and tech schemes, travel and dental insurance and much more.

We welcome people with disabilities and endeavour to make reasonable adjustments, if you do require such adjustments please let us know within 48 hours of your interview.

At Stella McCartney, we like to be bold. For us this means challenging ourselves and the wider industry in which we operate. As part of our commitments to inclusive fashion, we have an ambitious strategy to put diversity, equity and inclusion at the centre of everything we do. Our starting point is to create a workplace where different voices are respected, heard and empowered in equal measure regardless of factors such as culture and backgrounds, and to influence and disrupt fashion and other industries by providing opportunities for global diverse talent to shine.