Associate Designer (Apparel)

Job Location

St Louis, MO

Travel Percentage

None

Director of Design and a Design Mentor

Weissman® is an American costume and dancewear design company celebrating over 60 years in business! For three generations, we’ve remained family-owned. All products are imagined, designed and developed at our St. Louis, Missouri headquarters with many products made here in our U.S. factory.

We are known for doing everything we can to ensure that our customers get the right product on time, every time. We employ great people, the newest automation and a drive for continuous improvement to wow our customers.

At Weissman, we strive to offer great benefits for our employees! For this role, we offer:

• Generous PTO plan, paid company holidays, and floating holidays
• Paid Weekly
• Flexible work environment
• Parental and Adoption paid leave
• 401(k) with match
• Tuition Reimbursement Program
• LinkedIn Learning License
• Individual & Family Insurance Packages
• Company funded HRA
• Medical and Dependent Care FSA Plans
• Minimal copays for primary care and specialist visits
• Vision Included at no additional cost
• Dental Insurance Plans
• Company paid Short Term & Long Term Disability
• Employee Assistance Program
• Employer Paid Life Insurance with AD&D
• Voluntary Employee & Dependent Life Insurance with AD&D
• Monthly company sponsored employee events
• Friendly & attractive office environment

Weissman/Dancewear Solutions is a national Recital Costume/Dancewear catalog/web retailer and manufacturer that is experiencing rapid growth. The Associate Designer is responsible for the design of costumes or dancewear that is highly creative, brand relevant, and trend appropriate products for the Weissman customer. This individual protects the integrity of the brand by delivering products that fulfill the Merchandising strategies and meet the customers’ expectations in quality, design, and functionality. The Associate Designer also supports the Design Team as needed. The experience and performance of an Associate Designer are at a higher level than Assistant Designer. This position requires close collaborative partnerships with Technical Design, Product Development, Merchandising, Sourcing, and Production.

• Design: Under the direction of the Director of Design and a Design Mentor, has the ability to deliver creative concepts that have commercial appeal, meet sales and margin targets and have a good sketch selection rate, survey score, and adoption rate. Takes into consideration fabric and trim usage and salability of all designs. Works closely with a Design Mentor while illustrating, flat sketching, fitting, and communicating designs to successfully translate relevant industry trends to the Weissman customer.
• Design Team Assistance: Assists Senior Designers and Designers with special projects and daily tasks to meet design deadlines. Trend and
• Market Knowledge: Responsible for researching global and domestic markets to identify new trends, fabrics, accessories, and techniques; ensures the product is consistent with market trends while maintaining brand integrity and business strategies. Completes selective research projects as requested by the Design Team. Attends local dance recitals and competitions to analyze current dance trends. Demonstrates good knowledge of the Weissman customer, brand, and competitive landscape.
• Technical Skills: Creates technical flats of designs with accurate construction callouts and assists with flats for design team members. Communicates design details to Pattern Makers and Technical Designers. Fits prototypes and pre-production samples independently with assistance from Technical Design partners to maintain the design aesthetic including silhouette, fit, and styling direction.
• Leadership: Introduction of leadership qualities and opportunities; starts to successfully train and mentor interns with a focus on team assistance, company growth, and design development based on skills.
• Communication: Displays a great level of communication and presentation skills. Ability to communicate creative vision from concept to finished product and present designs to merchants for line consideration. Uses sound judgment; holds self and others accountable for their commitments and conduct.
• Business Analytics: Consistently drives sales and performance by analyzing sales and assortment along with competitors’ assortments, pricing, and catalog/web presentations.
• Quality: Collaboratively works with the Product Development team to ensure that all products meet or exceed the customer’s needs and expectations.

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Apparel Design
• 2 to 5+ years of professional experience in Apparel Design
• Excellent illustration and CAD skills, fashion and color design aesthetic, and ability to design highly creative concepts
• Strong aesthetic related to the Weissman brands and customer base
• Understanding of garment construction, fit, finishes, and industry resources
• Excellent computer skills including Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Cloud
• Strong work ethic and ability to work and design independently, excels in prioritizing work, and places a high value on time effectiveness.
• Excellent computer skills including Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Cloud
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, dynamic, and collaborative team environment; flexible and adaptable to change

Weissman’s Theatrical Supplies, Inc. provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.