About the role
The Footwear Designer Color & Materials (C&M) Kids plays a key role in shaping the creative and commercial success of Lacoste Kids Footwear.
This role owns and drives color and material design for Kids collections, ensuring they are playful, premium, age-appropriate and aligned with Lacoste’s brand DNA.
The designer translates consumer insights, cultural references and trend directions into distinctive, production-ready C&M stories that elevate desirability, quality perception and consistency across Kids footwear franchises.
Working in close collaboration with Product Merchandising, Development and Materials teams, this role contributes actively to concept definition, execution excellence and seasonal storytelling for Kids Footwear.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES :
1. C&M Creative Leadership – Kids
Own the development and execution of seasonal C&M directions for Kids Footwear categories.
Define color palettes, material stories and finishes that balance creativity, playfulness and commercial relevance.
Ensure strong alignment with Lacoste brand codes while adapting them to Kids-specific needs and age groups.
Bring fresh, relevant and differentiated C&M ideas to the Kids Footwear offering.
2. Design Execution & Product Ownership
Create detailed C&M concepts including color blocking, material mapping and finish specifications.
Collaborate closely with Footwear Designers to integrate C&M seamlessly into silhouette design.
Review and validate prototypes and samples, ensuring color accuracy, material quality and execution consistency.
Drive continuous improvement of material richness, durability and perceived value, adapted to Kids usage and standards.
3. Consumer, Culture & Trend Expertise
Conduct in-depth research on Kids consumer behavior, lifestyle, culture and trends.
Monitor fashion, sport, street culture and materials innovation with a Kids-focused lens.
Analyze competitors and adjacent categories to inform creative and commercial decisions.
Ensure global relevance while allowing for regional adaptation where required.
4. Cross-Functional Collaboration
Partner with Product Merchandising to ensure C&M stories support range architecture and price positioning.
Work closely with Development and Materials teams to align creative intent with feasibility, cost and timelines.
Contribute to the exploration and adoption of innovative and sustainable materials suitable for Kids products.
Prepare and present C&M directions during design reviews, range meetings and key milestones.
5. Process & Quality
Ensure all C&M deliverables are clearly documented, accurate and production-ready.
Maintain and enrich Kids-specific color and material libraries.
Follow and improve established C&M tools, calendars and processes.
Profile
3–6 years of experience in footwear color & materials design, ideally including Kids or lifestyle categories.
Strong understanding of footwear materials, constructions and manufacturing constraints.
Excellent sensitivity to color, texture, finish and storytelling.
Ability to translate brand DNA into playful, premium and commercially successful Kids products.
Proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop).
Strong presentation and communication skills.
Experience working with physical samples, suppliers and development teams.
Highly collaborative mindset with the ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines.
Curiosity, creativity, attention to detail and passion for footwear, materials and Kids design.