Director, Knitwear Design | Luxury Fashion

Location: New York, NY

Workplace: Onsite

Salary: $210,000

About the Opportunity: A globally recognized luxury fashion house known for its distinctive creative point of view, cultural influence, and ability to translate runway inspiration into highly desirable, commercially relevant product. The brand is seeking an accomplished Director of Knitwear Design to lead the creative direction and seasonal development of knitwear within its Mainline Ready-to-Wear business. This is an opportunity for a highly creative, product-driven leader to help shape the next chapter of an iconic fashion brand. The successful candidate will bring an exceptional eye, a deep understanding of knitwear construction and innovation, and the ability to translate a strong creative vision into compelling collections for a global consumer.

The Role: The Director of Knitwear Design will define and execute the seasonal knitwear vision, working closely with senior creative leadership and cross-functional partners across RTW Design, Merchandising, Product Development, Technical Design, Raw Materials, Production, and Sourcing. This leader will oversee knitwear from initial concept through development and final product, ensuring that each collection reflects the brand’s creative direction while meeting quality, calendar, and commercial objectives.

What You'll Do: Lead the seasonal creative direction and design development of the Mainline knitwear collection. Translate runway inspiration and broader brand direction into relevant, distinctive, and commercially compelling knitwear. Develop seasonal concepts, silhouettes, color, yarn, stitch, texture, pattern, and finish direction. Create and oversee sketches, technical design intent, presentation materials, and development packages. Partner with Merchandising to build a cohesive assortment across statement, seasonal, and commercial product. Collaborate with Product Development, Technical Design, Raw Materials, Production, and Sourcing throughout the development process. Work directly with mills, suppliers, and manufacturing partners on yarn development, sampling, construction, quality, and innovation. Lead fittings, sample reviews, design edits, and final product approvals. Manage seasonal deliverables and ensure work is completed in accordance with the product calendar. Lead, mentor, and develop knitwear design talent while fostering a collaborative, high-performing environment. Maintain awareness of fashion, art, culture, craft, emerging techniques, yarn innovation, and global market developments.

What We’re Looking For: 10+ years of progressive knitwear design experience, ideally within luxury, designer, or elevated contemporary fashion. Demonstrated experience leading knitwear design at the Director, Senior Director, or senior category-lead level. Exceptional understanding of yarns, stitches, gauges, construction, proportion, silhouette, finishing, and garment development. Strong fashion sensibility with the ability to balance directional design, brand identity, and commercial relevance. Experience taking knitwear from concept and sketch through sampling, fitting, development, and production. Established experience working with international mills, suppliers, and manufacturing partners. Strong hand-sketching and digital design capabilities; proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and related design tools. Excellent partnership skills across Design, Merchandising, Product Development, Technical Design, Production, and Sourcing. Proven ability to lead teams, prioritize multiple seasonal deliverables, and operate effectively in a fast-paced creative organization. To ApplyPlease include an active portfolio link in your resume. If password‑protected, kindly provide the password so your work can be reviewed without delay.