Manager, Fabric R&D - Favorite Daughter

About Us

Meet your closet’s newest favorites--a casually cool collection of wardrobe must-haves designed by the fashionably-sensitive sisters, Sara and Erin Foster. Go ahead, find your favorite.

The Fabric R&D Manager owns the material story behind the Favorite Daughter collection spanning hard and soft wovens, sweater yarns, cut and sew knits, and denim. Reporting to the SVP of Product Development and Technical Design as an individual contributor, this role sits at the intersection of Design, Product Development, and Production, translating seasonal concept direction into a fabric offering that is commercially viable, technically sound, and priced to margin.

Fabric Development & Sourcing

• Lead seasonal fabric research and development across wovens, knits, and denim, from concept through bulk approval
• Partner with Design at the front end of each season to interpret mood, trend, and hand-feel direction into actionable development targets
• Source, develop, and present seasonal fabric offerings that balance newness, seasonal core, and best sellers
• Drive innovation in fabrications, finishes, washes, and constructions that differentiate the brand among our competitors in the market
• Build and maintain a curated seasonal color palette with Pantone standards and internal color names, including seasonal core/carryover palates across styles and categories
• Identify and develop novelty and signature fabrications; manage exclusivity agreements where applicable

Mill & Vendor Management

• Build and manage relationships with international mills, converters, and fabric agents across key sourcing regions
• Negotiate pricing, minimums, lead times, and terms in partnership with Product Development and Production
• Manage the fabric development calendar with mills so lab dips, strike-offs, handlooms, knit-downs, and bulk yardage land on time to support the master calendar
• Attend domestic and international fabric trade shows and conduct mill visits as needed

Technical & Quality Ownership

• Partner with QC / QA Team for fabric testing protocols and standards; partner with Design and Technical Design for end use performance requirements for hand feel, weight, shrinkage, colorfastness, pilling, torque, growth, recovery, and durability
• Review and send approval comments for lab dips, strike-offs, handlooms, quality submits, and bulk submits
• Troubleshoot fabric-related quality issues in development and production and drive root-cause resolution with mills
• Maintain fabric specifications, construction, content, weight, width, and finishing standards in PLM
• Ensure all fabrics meet regulatory, compliance, and testing requirements

Costing & Margin

• Use commercial judgement on cost, negotiate to hit target margin without compromising quality or hand feel
• Propose material solutions to close costing gaps with suggestions for researched yarn substitutions, finishing alternatives, sourcing shifts
• Partner with Production and Sourcing on fabric liability, platform buys, and greige/yarn positioning to protect lead times
• Provide leadership with visibility into fabric cost trends, raw material market shifts, and supply risk

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Advise Design early on feasibility, cost, and hand alternatives before concepts are determined
• Present seasonal fabric direction in concept, line review, and adoption meetings
• Communicate development status, risks, and trade-offs clearly and proactively in seasonal Proto and SMS line review meetings
• Own and organize the physical and digital fabric library, including headers, hangers, swatch cards, and seasonal archives
• Maintain accurate, accessible fabric records so Design, Product Development and Production can self-serve

• Degree in Textile…