Fashion Designer / Apparel Designer
Company: D’IYANU
Location: Norristown, PA (Hybrid)
Department: Design
Reports To: CEO / Design Leadership
Job Type: Full-Time
Fashion Designer – Design Department
D’IYANU is a leading ecommerce fashion brand where culture, style, and storytelling meet.
We create modern African-inspired apparel for men, women, and children that celebrates heritage through elevated everyday fashion. Serving a global customer base, D’IYANU blends bold prints, elevated silhouettes, and meaningful cultural inspiration to create products customers feel proud to wear.
We are a growing, entrepreneurial company looking for team members who thrive in a collaborative, fast-paced environment and are excited to help shape the future of culturally inspired fashion.
Position Summary
D’IYANU is seeking a highly creative and execution-oriented Fashion Designer / Apparel Designer to support seasonal product development across women’s, men’s, girls’, boys’, and add-on categories.
This role is ideal for a designer who enjoys both the creative and operational side of fashion development — from concept creation and sketching to fittings, sample approvals, vendor communication, and development tracking.
The ideal candidate combines strong aesthetic sensibility with technical proficiency, organization, and commercial product thinking. This person should be excited to contribute fresh ideas while ensuring products are executable, brand-right, and market-ready.
Scope: Women’s, Men’s, Girls’, Boys’, and Add-On Categories across Knits & Wovens
Key Responsibilities
Product Design & Development
- Develop seasonal product concepts and execute apparel designs from initial idea through final sample approval.
- Create original sketches, CADs, colorways, garment details, and seasonal product concepts aligned with D’IYANU’s brand aesthetic.
- Design commercially viable products that balance creativity, customer demand, fit, functionality, and business goals.
- Interpret creative direction into market-ready products that align with category strategies and seasonal objectives.
Technical Design & Product Execution
- Create and maintain tech packs, style specifications, line sheets, BOMs (Bill of Materials), construction details, and development documentation for vendor communication and product execution.
- Partner closely with production, sourcing, and technical teams to move products through development calendars and milestone deadlines.
- Review prototypes and samples, participate in fittings, and recommend updates to improve fit, quality, construction, and overall product execution.
- Ensure design intent is maintained throughout development and production.
Development Management
- Maintain WIP reports and track development progress to ensure products stay on schedule.
- Organize fabrics, trims, submissions, sample tracking, and development materials.
- Communicate clearly with internal teams and external vendors regarding revisions, approvals, and development needs.
- Help reduce unnecessary sample rounds through thoughtful preparation and strong attention to detail.
Trend & Market Research
- Research fashion, color, fabric, trim, silhouette, and consumer trends to inform seasonal direction.
- Monitor competitors and broader fashion trends to identify whitespace opportunities and fresh product ideas.
- Bring new ideas while remaining aligned with D’IYANU’s brand DNA and customer expectations.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Collaborate closely with leadership, production, technical design, marketing, and merchandising teams.
- Present concepts, updates, and recommendations clearly to leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.
- Support the overall product development process to ensure smooth execution from concept to launch.
What Success Looks Like in This Role
Success in this role means:
- Bringing compelling, commercially strong products from concept to approval on time.
- Maintaining organized workflows and development tracking.
- Contributing fresh, culturally aligned product ideas.
- Reducing development inefficiencies and unnecessary sample rounds.
- Creating products that align with D’IYANU’s customer, aesthetic, and quality expectations.
- Balancing creativity with practicality and business performance.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Fashion Design, Apparel Design, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
- 4+ years of apparel design experience across women’s, men’s, or children’s categories.
- Experience supporting products through the full development lifecycle, including concept, fittings, sample review, revisions, and approvals.
- Strong understanding of:
- Garment construction
- Fit and apparel development
- Textiles and fabric performance
- Technical design principles
- Apparel production processes
- Strong proficiency in:
- Adobe Illustrator (required)
- Adobe Photoshop
- CAD design tools
- Microsoft Excel
- PLM or product development systems (Apparel Magic experience is a plus)
Preferred Qualifications
- Strong organizational and project management skills.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
- Self-starter who takes initiative and follows through with minimal oversight.
- Strong communication and collaboration skills.
- Ability to receive feedback, iterate quickly, and problem-solve effectively.
- Passion for culturally inspired fashion and appreciation for African-inspired design, heritage, and storytelling.
Why Join D’IYANU?
At D’IYANU, you will help shape products that celebrate culture and identity through fashion. You’ll work in a collaborative environment where creativity, ownership, and impact matter.
D’IYANU Benefits & Perks
- Hybrid Remote Working Model
- Medical & Dental Insurance Benefits
- Paid Time Off (PTO)
- Paid Company Holidays
- 40% Employee Discount
- Simple IRA Retirement Plan
- A creative environment where you can dress as yourself
Pay: $36.00 - $43.00 per hour
Benefits:
- Dental insurance
- Employee discount
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Retirement plan
- Vision insurance
Application Question(s):
- Please provide a link to your portfolio showcasing apparel design work, CADs, sketches, tech packs, and/or product development examples. Applications without a portfolio may not be considered.
- Briefly describe your experience taking apparel products from concept through tech packs, fittings, sample revisions, and final approval. Please include product categories you have worked on.
Education:
Experience:
- apparel design: 4 years (Required)
Ability to Commute:
- Norristown, PA 19401 (Required)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Norristown, PA 19401
