Design Apprentice Job Description
Explore the possibilities across our global house of brands.
Defined by inclusivity rather than exclusivity, Tapestry embraces the exploration of individuality and invests in helping you grow personally and professionally. Every individual in our global house has the opportunity to make an impact, learn and be part of our growing and unique story.
At Tapestry, we have the freedom to express ourselves and run with our best ideas across Coach, Kate Spade New York, and Stuart Weitzman. We share a profound belief in both our individual and collective potential, and know that with hard work and dedication, anything is possible.
What you will learn...
The program begins with an intensive orientation including Brand Learning Sessions (BLS) based on other areas of the business to provide a full 360 overview of design from concept to completion.
You will have ongoing learning & development opportunities, exposure to senior leaders and the opportunity to present a final project to creatives within the organization. Upon completion of the program, you will have gained hands on experience at America’s leading accessories house and will have developed valuable skills that will position you for future success.
What you will do...
You will partner with the design team to learn all aspects of the design process, including assistance with design cards, presentation boards, meeting preparation, and sample management. You will be a part of a dynamic, creative environment where you will collaborate with talented designers as well as partners in the business.
You will have ownership over:
Maintaining and tracking designs in our Product Lifecycle Management system
Creating design flats and renderings using Adobe Illustrator
Partnering with product development in tracking samples
Coordinating raw materials (leather, fabric, hardware) for sample development
Completing hardware cards and color palettes for the design review process
Organizing the design room and boards for presentation
The below departments will be hosting Design Apprentices:
COACH & Kate Spade Women’s Bags
COACH Women’s Small Leather Goods (SLGs)
COACH & Kate Spade Women’s Ready-to-Wear (RTW)
COACH Men’s Ready-to-Wear (RTW)
COACH Women’s Footwear
COACH & Kate Spade Print Design
COACH Men’s Bags
Kate Spade Technical Design
Kate Spade Jewelry
Stuart Weitzman Footwear
Qualifications you will need...
Candidates should be pursuing or recent graduates of a fashion/accessories design degree
Prior brand related internship experience
Advanced proficiency and experience using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to interact with a diverse group at all levels
Excellent organizational skills with attention to detail and follow-through
Proven ability to sketch and spec
Interested candidates should attach examples of their work along with their resume
Ability to work full-time, five days a week with a 6 month commitment
Our Competencies for All Employees
Drive for Results: Can be counted on to exceed goals successfully; is constantly and consistently one of the top performers; very bottom-line oriented; steadfastly pushes self and others for results.
Customer Focus: Is dedicated to meeting the expectations and requirements of internal and external customers; gets first-hand customer information and uses it for improvements in products and services; acts with customers in mind; establishes and maintains effective relationships with customers and gains their trust and respect.
Creativity: Comes up with a lot of new and unique ideas; easily makes connections among previously unrelated notions; tends to be seen as original and value-added in brainstorming settings.
Interpersonal Savvy: Relates well to all kinds of people, up, down, and sideways, inside and outside the organization; builds appropriate rapport; builds constructive and effective relationships; uses diplomacy and tact; can diffuse even high-tension situations comfortably.
Learning on the Fly: Learns quickly when facing new problems; a relentless and versatile learner; open to change; analyzes both successes and failures for clues to improvement; experiments and will try anything to find solutions; enjoys the challenge of unfamiliar tasks; quickly grasps the essence and the underlying structure of anything.
Perseverance: Pursues everything with energy, drive, and a need to finish; seldom gives up before finishing, especially in the face of resistance or setbacks.
Dealing with Ambiguity: Can effectively cope with change; can shift gears comfortably; can decide and act without having the total picture; isn’t upset when things are up in the air; doesn’t have to finish things before moving on; can comfortably handle risk and uncertainty.
Our Competencies for All People Managers
Strategic Agility: Sees ahead clearly; can anticipate future consequences and trends accurately; has broad knowledge and perspective; is future oriented; can articulately paint credible pictures and visions of possibilities and likelihoods; can create competitive and breakthrough strategies and plans.
Building Effective Teams: Blends people into teams when needed; creates strong morale and spirit in their team; shares wins and successes; fosters open dialogue; lets people finish and be responsible for their work; defines success in terms of the whole team; creates a feeling of belonging in the team.
Managerial Courage: Doesn’t hold back anything that needs to be said; provides current, direct, complete, and “actionable” positive and corrective feedback to others; lets people know where they stand; faces up to people problems on any person or situation (not including direct reports) quickly and directly; is not afraid to take negative action when necessary.