Freelance- Associate Designer (Knitwear) -Hybrid- Los Angeles

What You’ll Be Doing:

- Support the Senior Design Manager in the design and development of seasonal knitwear and cut-and-sew collections. - Research trends, color, silhouettes, knitwear inspiration, and yarn innovations to help shape seasonal concepts. - Create sketches, CADs, design boards, and presentation materials using Adobe Illustrator. - Partner with Product Development on yarn selection, fabric development, and seasonal timelines. - Maintain line sheets, design boards, development calendars, and seasonal documentation. - Create detailed tech packs and Bills of Materials for Tech Design handoff. - Communicate daily with overseas factories to ensure design intent and development accuracy. - Participate in fittings and update sketches, CADs, tech packs, and BOMs based on fit comments. - Maintain organized seasonal sample racks, knitdowns, lab dips, and development libraries. - Collaborate cross-functionally with Design, Technical Design, Product Development, Sales, Merchandising, and Production. - Help ensure products are market-ready and successfully executed from concept through production.

Qualifications:

- Ideal Background: - 6+ years of knitwear apparel design experience within the contemporary women’s RTW market. - Strong sketching and CAD skills using Adobe Illustrator; Procreate experience is a plus. - Experience designing knitwear with strong knowledge of yarn gauges, yarn qualities, knit construction, and manufacturing processes. - Experience creating detailed tech packs and Bills of Materials. - Strong understanding of garment construction, fit, fabrics, and product development. - Experience partnering with Product Development, Technical Design, and overseas vendors throughout development. - Excellent trend forecasting, color sense, and market awareness. - Strong organizational, communication, and multitasking skills in a fast-paced environment. - Proficiency with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Microsoft Office, and Google Workspace. - Bachelor’s or Associate’s degree in Fashion Design or a related field preferred. - Experience working with contemporary women’s apparel brands. - Strong knitwear design experience across sweaters, knit tops, and cut-and-sew collections. - Background in yarn development, overseas factory communication, and technical product development. - Success working in highly collaborative, fast-paced, creative environments. - Strong understanding of contemporary fashion trends and a contemporary fashion aesthetic.