Urban Outfitters Design Director

Urban Outfitters•Philadelphia, PA

About The Position

Urban Outfitters is seeking a highly creative, trend-driven Design Director to lead Kimchi Blue, its feminine, expressive, fashion-forward women’s apparel brand. The role will shape the brand’s evolution across Day and Night Out dressing, developing relevant assortments that balance femininity, romance, individuality, and modern fashion sensibility. The Design Director translates cultural influences, runway inspiration, vintage references, and emerging fashion movements into innovative, commercially successful product, elevates the brand identity, drives newness in silhouette and fabrication, and creates a cohesive assortment that evolves with the customer. As a member of the Women’s Design leadership team, the Design Director leads the creative process from concept through execution, inspires and develops talent, and collaborates across functions. The role owns seasonal design vision and assortment strategy, maintains a deep understanding of the Gen Z customer, and balances creative risk-taking with business priorities. It partners closely with Buying, Product Development, Technical Design, Production, and Concept, Print, and Color teams to deliver design integrity, quality, fit, and commercial viability.

Requirements

10–12+ years of women’s apparel design experience, including leadership and team management.
Strong background in trend-driven, contemporary, or fashion-forward women’s apparel, with expertise in feminine Day and Night Out dressing.
Exceptional taste level and a portfolio demonstrating originality, fashion relevance, silhouette innovation, and a distinctive creative point of view.
Deep understanding of Gen Z fashion culture, consumer behavior, and the contemporary fashion landscape.
Proven ability to translate trends and creative inspiration into cohesive, commercially successful assortments.
Demonstrated success leading creative teams and partnering with senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
Expert knowledge of women’s apparel construction, fit, draping, proportion, and garment development.
Extensive knowledge of feminine fabrications, including lace, sheer materials, woven qualities, novelty knits, and special occasion treatments.
Strong understanding of fabric development, prints, trims, embellishments, washes, and manufacturing techniques.
Advanced hand and digital sketching skills and the ability to communicate design intent clearly.
Ability to independently lead fittings, product reviews, and seasonal presentations.
Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office.
Experience with PLM systems, including Treadstone and BOM management.
Highly organized and adaptable, with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced creative environment.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with AI-enabled creative tools such as Midjourney, PromeAI, and ChatGPT, and their application to design exploration and creative presentations.
A distinctive, elevated, feminine, trend-forward design perspective and strong awareness of emerging trends and youth culture.
Ability to push silhouette, fabrication, proportion, and design details while balancing fashion authority, customer relevance, and business performance.
Ability to foster cross-functional collaboration, creative ownership, and disciplined execution.

Responsibilities

Define and execute a seasonal design vision and recognizable feminine fashion identity for Kimchi Blue.
Lead the brand’s creative evolution across Day and Night Out dressing while maintaining a cohesive overall identity.
Translate runway, vintage, street style, social culture, and aspirational fashion influences into original, relevant product.
Drive innovation in silhouette, proportion, fabrication, print, texture, embellishment, and styling.
Build seasonal stories connecting styles through outfitting, color, fabric, and design details.
Identify opportunities to evolve key items and introduce product franchises that strengthen the brand.
Present seasonal direction, product strategies, and creative concepts to senior leadership.
Own balanced, trend-right seasonal assortments that address customer needs, outfitting opportunities, and business priorities.
Establish product differentiation between Day and Night Out and drive newness across dresses, tops, skirts, and relevant lifestyle categories.
Lead seasonal fabric and material direction, including lace, sheers, novelty knits, feminine wovens, prints, textures, and special treatments.
Partner with Concept, Print, and Color teams on cohesive seasonal stories and differentiated print and pattern assortments.
Collaborate with other Women’s Design Directors on assortment balance, brand differentiation, and outfitting opportunities.
Guide product development from concept through production, ensuring design integrity, quality, fit, and commercial viability.
Maintain understanding of the Kimchi Blue customer, her lifestyle, shopping behavior, fashion influences, and wardrobe needs.
Analyze sales, sell-through, customer response, and competitive trends to inform assortment strategies and product decisions.
Identify white-space opportunities and fashion movements that can support business growth; balance creative risk-taking with commercial drivers.
Partner with Buying on seasonal line architecture, key item strategies, and category opportunities.
Shop and analyze aspirational, contemporary, vintage, and competitive brands for product and styling opportunities.
Lead, inspire, and develop a high-performing design team; establish a culture of creativity, curiosity, collaboration, and accountability.
Provide seasonal direction, feedback, and coaching; develop team capabilities in trend interpretation, product innovation, fabric development, and assortment storytelling.
Partner with Buying, Product Development, Technical Design, Production, and Concept/Print/Color to execute seasonal vision.
Lead concept reviews, sketch reviews, fittings, assortment presentations, and finalization.
Work with Product Development and sourcing partners on innovative materials and techniques while achieving cost and margin objectives.
Communicate progress, risks, and opportunities to senior leadership and cross-functional partners.
Manage design calendars, resources, and budgets against business milestones; identify opportunities to improve speed, efficiency, and product development processes.