Head of Product Design

The Role: Head of Product Design & Development HYPLAND | Senior Leadership About HYPLAND HYPLAND is a streetwear and lifestyle brand rooted in anime, video games, skateboarding, and pop culture. We create products and experiences that bring together the worlds of fashion, entertainment, gaming, and community. Through original collections and collaborations with globally recognized entertainment properties, HYPLAND has built a distinct identity at the intersection of fandom and streetwear. As we enter our next stage of growth, we're looking for a Head of Product Design & Development to help define the future of our product offering, elevate our design standards, expand into new categories, and lead the development of collections from initial concept through final production.

The Role: We're looking for a design leader with exceptional taste, strong cultural instincts, and a deep understanding of streetwear, skateboarding, anime, gaming, and contemporary fashion. This person should have a genuine connection to the cultures that influence HYPLAND—not simply an understanding of trends, but an authentic appreciation for the brands, designers, artists, games, and communities shaping them. You'll work closely with the Founder & CEO to evolve HYPLAND's design language, develop seasonal collections, introduce new product categories, and elevate our existing licensed and original offerings. This is both a creative leadership and hands‐on product development position. The ideal candidate must be equally comfortable building a creative concept, designing a collection, developing technical specifications, conducting fittings, and collaborating with manufacturers to bring products to market. We're looking for someone who can bring new ideas and a strong independent point of view while understanding how to execute at a high level.

Key Responsibilities: Creative Direction & Collection Development Lead the design and development of original HYPLAND collections and licensed collaborations across multiple product categories. Establish and evolve a recognizable HYPLAND design language rooted in streetwear, skate culture, gaming, anime, and contemporary fashion. Develop seasonal design concepts, mood boards, color palettes, silhouettes, fabric directions, graphics, trims, and collection narratives. Translate anime, gaming, and entertainment properties into elevated, fashion-forward collections that feel authentic to both the intellectual property and the HYPLAND brand. Bring original concepts and proactive creative direction to the table rather than relying exclusively on briefs. Identify emerging cultural movements, designers, silhouettes, materials, and product trends with relevance to HYPLAND's audience. Balance creative innovation and experimentation with commercial viability, wearability, and brand consistency. Product Category Expansion Help expand HYPLAND beyond traditional graphic apparel by introducing innovative designs and new product categories. Areas of focus include: Core apparel: T-shirts, fleece, hoodies, sweatpants, knitwear, and elevated wardrobe essentials. Cut-and-sew: Jackets, outerwear, denim, trousers, woven shirts, technical apparel, and unique silhouettes. Skate and streetwear: Skate-influenced fits, workwear, functional pieces, and products with authentic streetwear credibility. Accessories: Headwear, bags, backpacks, belts, jewelry, and lifestyle accessories. Lifestyle and specialty products: Home goods, collectibles, functional objects, and other culturally relevant products. Emerging categories: Exploring new product opportunities, including footwear collaborations and products that extend the HYPLAND universe. The goal is to develop a broader, more sophisticated product assortment while maintaining a cohesive brand identity. End-to-End Product Development Own the design development process from concept to production-ready product. Translate creative concepts into detailed technical drawings, product specifications, and production-ready tech packs. Oversee garment construction, pattern development, fabric selection, trims, wash treatments, hardware, embellishments, & Lead sample reviews and fit sessions, making informed adjustments to proportions, grading, construction, and overall fit. Develop and refine HYPLAND's fit standards, silhouette library, size specifications, and quality benchmarks. Review prototypes, fit samples, pre-production samples, and final production approvals. Work directly with production teams, technical designers, patternmakers, and manufacturing partners to resolve development challenges. Ensure products maintain design integrity while meeting cost, quality, feasibility, and delivery requirements. Introduce new manufacturing techniques, fabrications, and product construction methods to elevate the brand's offerings. A strong technical understanding of garment construction, fitting, and manufacturing is essential. Streetwear, Skate & Cultural Leadership Bring an established perspective and genuine connection to contemporary streetwear and skateboarding culture. Understand the history, evolution, and visual language of influential streetwear and skate brands, as well as emerging independent labels. Maintain an active awareness of global fashion and youth‐culture movements, including Japanese streetwear, American skate culture, and emerging designers. Identify opportunities for collaborations with relevant designers, artists, creative studios, skaters, and cultural figures. Help position HYPLAND as a credible participant in the broader streetwear community—not merely a brand producing entertainment merchandise. We value candidates who actively participate in and contribute to these communities...Anime, Gaming & Licensed Collaboration Development Demonstrate genuine knowledge of anime, manga, video games, and entertainment franchises. Understand the characters, narratives, aesthetics, communities, and cultural significance behind the propertiesHYPLAND collaborates with. Create thoughtful designs that go beyond basic character placement and logo applications. Develop original interpretations through silhouette, construction, storytelling, materials, hardware, and graphic treatments. Collaborate with licensing and production teams to navigate IP guidelines, design approvals, revisions, and manufacturing requirements. Help identify new creative opportunities at the intersection of fashion & !?? (missing?) Help... (some missing?)Design Leadership & Cross‐Functional Collaboration Lead, mentor, and develop internal designers, technical design resources, and external creative partners. Establish strong design processes, collection calendars, review systems, and quality standards. Collaborate with the Founder & CEO on the brand's long‐term creative vision and product strategy. Partner with merchandising, production, licensing, marketing, and sales teams to ensure alignment from initial concept to product launch. Take accountability for design deadlines, sample execution, product quality, and collection readiness. Build a culture of experimentation, ownership, attention to detail, and constant creative development. Qualifications Required 7+ years of relevant experience in apparel design and product development, with a strong portfolio demonstrating commercially produced collections. Significant experience within streetwear, skateboarding, contemporary fashion, or culturally relevant lifestyle brands. Demonstrated experience designing and developing products beyond graphic T‐shirts and hoodies. Strong understanding of garment construction, fit, pattern development, textiles, manufacturing, and technical design. Experience taking collections from concept through sampling, fitting, revisions, and production approval. Fluency in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, technical design workflows, and product development documentation. Strong knowledge of anime, gaming, and broader pop culture, with an authentic connection to these communities. Exceptional visual taste, attention to detail, and an identifiable creative point of view. Ability to lead and collaborate with cross‐functional teams, external factories, and creative partners. Understanding of costing, production constraints, assortment development, and commercial product considerations. A proactive, highly organized, hands‐on approach with the ability to manage multiple collections simultaneously. Preferred Previous design leadership experience at an established streetwear, skate, or contemporary fashion brand. Experience developing licensed apparel and collaborating with entertainment IP holders. Experience with Japanese streetwear or global fashion markets. Existing relationships with creative talent, designers, material suppliers, or manufacturing partners. Experience building and launching new apparel or lifestyle product categories. Experience working across both direct‐to‐consumer and wholesale product assortments.

What Success Looks Like: The right person will: Elevate HYPLAND's overall design quality, fit, materials, construction, and product consistency. Introduce strong original ideas and fresh creative direction across multiple collections. Build an expanded product offering that moves beyond traditional licensed graphic apparel. Create recognizable, differentiated products that reflect HYPLAND's identity. Establish more efficient and reliable design, sampling, fitting, and product development processes. Deliver collections that resonate with anime and gaming fans while earning credibility within the wider streetwear and skate communities. Develop a strong design team and help shape the long‐term creative evolution of the brand. Above all, we want a creative leader who can bring both vision and execution, and who is genuinely excited to help shape the next chapter of HYPLAND.