Senior Tailoring Designer
Rabanne seeks a Senior Tailoring Designer in Paris to lead tailoring, pattern development and atelier production for luxury collections.
Overview
Rabanne is a contemporary luxury fashion house known for bold, experimental approaches to materiality and silhouette. The brand operates at the intersection of couture technique and ready-to-wear innovation, sustaining an atelier-driven practice that prizes craftsmanship, technical excellence and conceptual rigor.
Role & Responsibilities
- Lead the conceptualisation and technical development of tailoring within seasonal collections, from sketches to ready-to-wear and couture prototypes.
- Create and refine patterns, toiles and final garments using advanced tailoring and fitting techniques to achieve impeccable fit and finish.
- Oversee sample room and atelier activities, directing fittings, finishings and hand-work while ensuring adherence to quality standards and timelines.
- Produce clear technical packs and specification sheets for production, coordinating with production teams and external manufacturers to resolve construction challenges.
- Collaborate closely with the Creative Director, fabric buying, print and embroidery teams to translate design intent into manufacturable garments.
- Mentor and manage junior pattern cutters, tailors and atelier staff; establish best-practice workflows and maintain skills transfer within the team.
- Conduct quality-control reviews at sample and production stages; advise on material selection, trims and construction techniques to optimise durability and aesthetic.
- Represent tailoring expertise in cross-functional meetings, liaising with suppliers and ateliers to ensure cost-effective and consistent execution.
Qualifications
- Proven mastery of classical and contemporary tailoring techniques, including hand-finishing, pad-stitching and structured construction.
- Advanced pattern-cutting skills with demonstrable experience producing precise toile and final samples for luxury garments.
- Proven ability to translate creative concepts into detailed technical documentation and production-ready specifications.
- Leadership experience within an atelier or sample room, including team mentoring and project coordination across collections.
- Strong aesthetic sensitivity appropriate to a high-fashion house and meticulous attention to fit, proportion and finish.
Skills
Experience
Typically requires a minimum of 6–8 years of progressive experience in tailoring and pattern-making within luxury fashion houses or couture ateliers, with demonstrable leadership of sample-room or atelier teams and a portfolio of executed collections.
Education
Degree or diploma in Fashion Design, Pattern Cutting, Garment Technology or equivalent professional training in tailoring; formal couture/tailoring apprenticeships are a strong asset.
Culture
The workplace blends artisanal atelier tradition with forward-looking creative experimentation. Teams operate collaboratively across design, craft and production, valuing technical mastery, material innovation and rigorous standards of finish intrinsic to luxury fashion.