Urban Outfitters Design Director - BDG Womens Denim & Wovens

Urban Outfitters•Philadelphia, PA

About The Position

Urban Outfitters is looking for a Design Director to lead the BDG lifestyle vision across denim and casual wovens, including jeans, casual and structured bottoms, shorts, skirts, dresses, shirting, jackets, utility, and related lifestyle product. BDG is rooted in denim, but the opportunity extends beyond the jean. This role is responsible for building the complete lifestyle around denim—defining how silhouette, wash, fabric, proportion, construction, styling, and outfitting come together to create a compelling and recognizable point of view for the UO customer. The Design Director will own the seasonal creative and product strategy for the category, translating overarching UO concepts into a forward, differentiated assortment that balances denim authority, key items and franchises, outfitting, commercial opportunity, and fashion newness. This leader should have a strong perspective on where denim and casual dressing are moving next and the ability to turn cultural, vintage, global, and fashion inspiration into product that feels uniquely BDG. This role requires a sophisticated understanding of denim, wash, woven fabric, fit, construction, dye, finish, and manufacturing—with the expertise to set direction, challenge development, and guide the team toward exceptional product execution. Equally important is the ability to lead and develop a high-performing team, influence cross-functional partners, and connect creative vision to meaningful business growth. The ideal candidate is a product-obsessed, culturally curious, forward-thinking creative leader who can move fluidly between big-picture brand vision and the details that make an individual garment great.

Requirements

10–12+ years of progressive apparel design experience, with significant experience in denim and casual wovens and demonstrated leadership of substantial product categories and Design teams.
Exceptional taste, product instinct, and creative vision, demonstrated through a strong portfolio and a track record of building differentiated, culturally relevant, commercially successful product.
Deep expertise in denim design and development, including silhouette, fit, proportion, wash, construction, fabrication, finishing, and the nuances required to build and evolve successful denim fits and franchises.
Strong technical knowledge of casual and structured woven product, including bottoms, shirting, jackets, utility, and related lifestyle categories, with the ability to direct both creative development and technical execution.
Advanced knowledge of denim and woven fabrics, wash and dye techniques, garment treatments, trims, stitching, construction, finishing, and manufacturing processes, with enough technical depth to lead wash and raw-material direction and effectively challenge and guide Design, Product Development, mills, laundries, and vendors.
Strong understanding of fabric behavior, quality, hand feel, drape, wash, and how raw materials impact fit and silhouette, with the ability to identify materials and techniques that can unlock new product and franchise opportunities.
Exceptional connection to the Urban Outfitters customer, with strong knowledge of youth culture, fashion, vintage, global denim culture, emerging brands, runway, street style, and relevant cultural shifts.
Demonstrated ability to forecast product and trend evolution, identify whitespace, and translate broad cultural and customer insights into actionable product strategies through a distinct brand lens.
Strong business acumen with the ability to connect creative vision, assortment architecture, customer insight, and financial performance and use selling data to make informed forward decisions.
Proven ability to lead, inspire, coach, and develop high-performing creative teams, including setting clear expectations, raising the product standard, identifying talent needs, and developing future leaders.
Strong executive presence and communication skills, with the ability to articulate a clear point of view, influence senior leadership, navigate differing perspectives, and drive decisions with confidence and conviction.
Highly collaborative, decisive, and solution-oriented, with demonstrated success building strong partnerships across Design, Buying, Product Development, R&D, Sourcing, Production, Print + Color, and other creative functions.
Strong hand and digital design skills with the technical expertise to independently lead seasonal set-ups, fittings, wash reviews, product reviews, and leadership presentations.
Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite and relevant product-development systems, including Treadstone/BOM management or comparable platforms.
Strong understanding of AI and emerging creative technology, with the ability to use tools such as Midjourney, PromeAI, and ChatGPT to accelerate research, ideation, visualization, and creative storytelling.
Highly organized and self-directed, with the ability to anticipate change, prioritize resources, navigate ambiguity, and maintain creative excellence in a fast-paced product environment.

Responsibilities

Define and drive the seasonal creative and product strategy across denim and casual wovens, translating UO concepts into a distinctive BDG point of view and cohesive lifestyle assortment.
Establish the seasonal roadmap across denim fits, casual and structured bottoms, shorts, skirts, shirting, jackets, utility, key items, franchises, and fashion newness, ensuring clear assortment architecture, outfitting, hierarchy, and differentiation.
Establish a forward point of view on denim silhouette, proportion, wash, fabric, construction, finish, and styling. Protect and evolve successful fits and franchises while identifying and developing the ideas that can become the next meaningful BDG businesses.
Set seasonal direction across denim and woven fabrics, washes, dyes, finishes, trims, stitching, construction, and garment treatments. Partner with Product Development, R&D, Sourcing, and Production to build a raw-material strategy that delivers the creative vision while balancing quality, cost, margin, and scalability.
Guide and approve product from concept through development, fittings, sample reviews, and Finalization. Maintain a high bar for taste, fit, proportion, wash, fabrication, construction, detail, quality, and finish, and ensure the team has the technical direction needed to achieve it.
Maintain a deep understanding of the UO customer and actively research vintage, global denim culture, runway, street style, emerging designers and brands, youth culture, and broader shifts in how the customer is getting dressed. Translate those insights into forward product opportunities rather than simply following the competitive market.
Use selling, Velo metrics, rankings, customer response, and market intelligence to identify whitespace, opportunities, risks, and emerging franchises. Partner with Merchant leadership to determine where to protect, evolve, chase, test, scale, or exit, while maintaining a forward creative perspective.
Partner with Design Directors and creative leaders across UO Women’s to connect BDG into the broader seasonal expression, ensuring denim and casual wovens create strong outfitting opportunities and work cohesively across categories.
Build, inspire, and develop a high-performing Design team with clear expectations around creative vision, taste, curiosity, technical excellence, ownership, and accountability. Provide decisive product direction and meaningful coaching while developing future leaders and strengthening the overall capability of the team.
Serve as the senior Design voice for BDG Lifestyle, presenting seasonal strategy and product direction to leadership with clarity and conviction. Build strong partnerships across Buying, Product Development, Production, R&D, Sourcing, Print + Color, and Concept to drive timely decisions and maintain creative intent through execution.
Own seasonal priorities, calendars, resources, and budgets for the team. Anticipate development and execution risks, proactively solve problems, and identify opportunities to simplify processes and focus resources against the highest-impact product and business opportunities.