I keep hearing the terms product developer and designer and I am beginning to get a little confused. For kicking off my collection I don’t know which I need and want to make sure I make right decision since I am investing in this role.
We hear this question a lot so happy it came to our inbox here.
These two roles are often and easily confused, largely because many of the tasks they do and the roles they play overlap within the realm of getting a collection out the door. Both emerging and established brands can use both to create actual fashion garments.
For ease of understanding, the designer is the creative force, often in partnership with a founder on the initial steps in bringing the vision to life. The designer creates the concept for the brand including establishing all the product’s aesthetics, including silhouette, raw materials, signature details, and print and color. Even fit is part of this as the proportion of fit has a strong link to the aesthetic and attitude of the collection.
The product development point person takes these aesthetics and puts them into action for the brand in order to get the product made. The very important steps of sourcing the desired raw materials, the ideal vendor for the product, and keeping all deliverables on track from a calendar perspective.
While the uniqueness of the product couldn’t be created without the vision of the designer, neither could it be as easily nor as well executed without the product development partner.
In an ideal world, the designer and product development partner are in such lockstep that they can be surrogates for each other in conversations and know what questions the other might ask of cross-functional partners internally or externally within the brand.
TIP OTW- Embrace bringing in expertise up front because it will save you money and time in the long run.
For even more clarity on the roles within a team check out our post on the blog all about it.
