Leather Goods Designer

We are seeking an exceptionally creative, operationally rigorous Leather Goods Designer to join our team. This role is beautifully tailored for a design-led professional with a refined aesthetic who thrives in a fast-paced, rapidly growing environment. Bridging creative vision with impeccable technical execution, you will take absolute ownership of the design cycle from initial research through to factory-ready specifications. This position demands a rare combination of elevated taste, aligned with the world's leading minimalist and luxury fashion houses, and a fiercely proactive, self-directed work ethic. You will fully command your domain, driving administrative accuracy across the Design team function and your areas, digital infrastructure, and sample organisation with an effortless sense of autonomy., Creative Conception & Brand Alignment

• Visionary Research: Conduct deep, highly immersive design research across contemporary art, architecture, vintage archives, libraries, and historical references to form rich seasonal concepts.
• Elevated Design: Translate creative direction into highly original leather goods and bespoke hardware concepts that balance artistic innovation with the DNA of DeMellier.
• Continually propose daring yet elegant shapes, proportions, and detailing that push the boundaries of luxury accessories.
• Material & Chromatic Expression: Master the dialogue between colour, texture, and leather grain.
• Execute flawless digital colour-ups and material animations, systematically referencing established hardware and material matrix sheets to guarantee absolute aesthetic harmony.
Technical Precision & Prototyping
• Atelier Mock-Up Mastery: Transform abstract 2D concepts into beautiful 3D physical realities through hand-sketched explorations and rapid prototyping.
• Construct highly refined trials and mock-ups to intuitively interrogate proportion, volume, and line, possessing the exacting self-critical eye to perfect and balance silhouettes prior to artistic review. Technical Expression: Author immaculate technical specifications and comprehensive proto comments using Adobe Illustrator.
• Translate complex construction ideas into clear technical drawings, preserving absolute creative intent as the product transitions from the studio floor to industrial creation.
• Artisanal Dialogue: Work collaboratively alongside product developers and factory partners to solve structural, hardware, and material challenges, refining technical details without compromising the initial creative soul of the piece.
Atelier & Asset Curation
• Meeting Presentation: Take full accountability for organising design reviews and presentations.
• Ensure the creative environment and layout tables strictly reflect the active agenda, maintaining a highly curated, focused workspace.
• Sample Preservation: Enforce a protective protocol for all physical assets. Personally oversee the immaculate packing and handling of samples. Proactive Digital Infrastructure: Maintain a highly logical, pristine server environment.
• Take the intuitive lead on organising shared digital folders, seasonal mood boards, seasonal briefings and overviews.
Workflow & Communication Discipline
• Structured Project Ownership: Independently drive and own the administrative workflows across the Design function and see long-term design milestones through to completion within agreed schedules.
• Fluid Communication Loops: Maintain seamless internal communication pathways, ensuring leadership and cross-functional partners are effortlessly aligned and systematically looped into correspondence.
  
  Experience: 2 to 3 years of experience in a full-time role designing leather goods or premium accessories within an internationally recognised, design-led luxury fashion house.
• Languages: Fluency in English is required.
• Additional language skills, in Spanish and/or Italian, would be an advantage.
• Education: Holds a bachelor's degree in Accessories Design or an equivalent field.
• Technical Software Expertise: Expert-level mastery of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. Proficiency with AI, Rhino, CAD, or 3D rendering software is a beautiful plus.
• Mindset & Pace: Calm, adaptable, and solutions-focused, with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced luxury retail environment.
• You are proactive in your approach, take pride in delivering high-quality work, and have a keen eye for detail.
• Workspace Discipline: Naturally organised, structured, and takes personal accountability for maintaining clean, inspiring shared creative spaces.
  
  DeMellier is a London-based brand that was founded with the vision of doing things differently: to design handbags that would make women feel empowered, made ethically and sustainably, while giving back to those who need it most. These principles guide everything we do. All our pieces are crafted ethically in Europe using the finest sustainably sourced materials. We champion equality, and for every piece sold, we fund vaccines and medical treatments aimed at saving the life of a child in need. So far, through our permanent charity initiative, 'A Bag, A Life', in partnership with SOS Children's Villages, we have funded over 2.5 million vaccines. Join us and be part of an award-winning, purpose-driven brand that fosters creativity, collaboration, and meaningful impact within the luxury industry.