Designer, Women's Handbags + Small Leather Goods

Cole Haan•New York, NY

6d•$90,000 - $120,000

About The Position

The Designer, Women's Handbags + Small Leather Goods supports seasonal concept and design development for commercially relevant Cole Haan collections. The role works under the guidance of the Design Director and in partnership with the Senior Designer, contributing to handbag and small leather goods design, research, presentation development, and sample development. The Designer also supports day-to-day collaboration with Merchandising and Product Development. The position requires a professional portfolio demonstrating hand sketches, vector line art, handbags, small leather goods, hardware concepts, final technical packages, and photos of finished produced bags. Applicants should submit an application with a link to an online portfolio or an attachment containing work samples. This position is not available to be performed in Colorado.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design, Accessories Design, Industrial Design, or a related field.
3 or more years of focused design experience in handbags, small leather goods, or related accessories.
Ability to create accurate, factory-ready technical packages within established timelines.
Proficiency in Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and Microsoft Office.
Clear understanding of handbag construction, sewing techniques, leather, textiles, and metal hardware.
Understanding of competitor products, price positioning, materials, and current market trends.
Effective verbal and written communication skills and ability to collaborate across Design, Merchandising, and Product Development.
Effective time-management skills and ability to support multiple seasons while remaining collaborative, responsive to feedback, and detail-oriented.
Professional portfolio demonstrating hand sketches, vector line art, handbags, small leather goods, hardware concepts, final technical packages, and photos of finished produced bags.

Responsibilities

Contribute original design ideas with the Senior Designer, following seasonal direction from the Design Director.
Support research and presentation development for seasonal handbag and small leather goods collections.
Create hand-drawn sketches, digital sketches, and CAD presentations using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop accurately and on time.
Develop and maintain tech packs for assigned styles and support team updates throughout the sample development process.
Participate in development sample reviews, documenting and executing comments to support the Design team.
Partner with the Design Director and Senior Designer on color CAD execution for seasonal line-plan reviews.
Support preparation of material-detailing specification specs.
Support day-to-day collaboration with Merchandising and Product Development.