Profession clothing development manager

Clothing development managers define product concepts that are consistent with target consumer and overall marketing strategy. They receive scientific findings and specifications in order to lead the briefing and implementation of all relevant seasonal and strategic concepts, including distribution by channel, product, colour introductions, and merchandised assortments. They ensure realisation and execution within budget. They manage and execute the product line and category life cycle from concept determination through sales and distribution, contribution in research of market, industry trends to influence category concepts and products.

Personality Type

• Enterprising / Investigative
• Investigative / Enterprising

Knowledge

• Manufacturing of wearing apparel

  The  processes used to fabricate wearing apparel and the different technologies and machinery involved in the manufacturing processes.

• History of fashion

  Costumes and the cultural traditions around clothing.

• Manufacturing of made-up textile articles

  Manufacturing processes in wearing apparel and made-up textiles. Different technologies and machinery involved in the manufacturing processes.

• Apparel manufacturing technology

  Traditional and advanced apparel manufacturing technologies. Technologies including processes, machinery, etc. in order to compile and design pattern requirements, contribute to product costing and finalise assembly sequence and quality assurance criteria.

• Properties of fabrics

  The influence of chemical composition and molecular arrangement of yarn and fibre properties and fabric structure on the physical properties of textile fabrics; the different fibre types, their physical and chemical characteristics and different material characteristics; the materials used in different processes and the effect on materials as they are processed. 

Skills

• Distinguish fabrics

  Distinguish fabrics in order to determine differences among them. Evaluate fabrics based on their characteristics and their application in wearing apparel manufacturing.

• Prepare production prototypes

  Prepare early models or prototypes in order to test concepts and replicability possibilities. Create prototypes to assess for pre-production tests.

• Coordinate manufacturing production activities

  Coordinate manufacturing activities based on production strategies, policies and plans. Study details of the planning such as expected quality of the products, quantities, cost, and labour required to foresee any action needed. Adjust processes and resources to minimise costs.

• Evaluate garment quality

  Evaluating stitching, construction, attachments, fasteners, embellishments, shading within the garment; evaluating pattern continuity, matching; evaluating tapes and linings.

• Operate computerised control systems

  Operate electronic or computerised control panels to monitor and optimise processes, and to control process start-up and shut-downs. Monitor and inspect equipment and systems to detect malfunctions.

• Analyse supply chain strategies

  Examine an organisation's planning details of production, their expected output units, quality, quantity, cost, time available and labour requirements. Provide suggestions in order to improve products, service quality and reduce costs.

• Distinguish accessories

  Distinguish accessories in order to determine differences among them. Evaluate accessories based on their characteristics and their application in wearing apparel manufacturing.

• Perform process control in the wearing apparel industry

  Perform process control to wearing apparel products in order to assure mass production in an uninterrupted production manner. Control processes to ensure that processes are predictable, stable and consistent.

• Manage briefs for clothing manufacturing

  Manage briefs from clients for the manufacturing of wearing apparel. Collect customers' demands and prepare them into specifications for the production.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB