Get to know Coralie and her job: textile designer at DECATHLON | NABAIJI.
She answers our questions to explain the role she plays in product design and shares her vision of the profession.
Get to know Coralie and her job: textile designer at DECATHLON | NABAIJI.
She answers our questions to explain the role she plays in product design and shares her vision of the profession.
I am a Textile (Graphic) Designer. At NABAIJI, I am in charge of swimwear for our entire range of products for kids and beginner swimmers. So I work on the prints, the colours and all the accessories for swimsuits, such as embroidery, lace, knots, ties, etc. I work in tandem with a Garment Designer who works on the shape and functionality of the swimsuit.
It all depends on the time of year. During any creation period, it's simple: there would be no trend analysis, no colour ranges and theme creation to inspire the collections, no prints, no creation... Basically, there would be no new swimwear.
I am involved at different points throughout the product development process. There are several phases:
- An inspiration phase: defining the theme, the atmosphere, the destination, the colours… The aim is to immerse users in a universe. DECATHLON has also created its own colours. The idea was for it to be coherent across all the materials and products in the range.
- A creation phase (drawings, choice of colours, prints, etc.).
- Presentation of the proposals to the Product Manager and then to the entire brand to choose the models to be developed.
- Launching the prints in production and receiving prototypes.
- The aim is then for all the prototypes to be compliant for the final selection of the products that will be produced and marketed.
I also have a role that is more oriented towards artistic direction. I work with the Merchandising and Communication teams to define together how to showcase our products.
I am motivated by:
- The satisfaction of the Product Managers I work with.
- Customer satisfaction.
- The product development schedule, i.e. all the deliverables (datasheets, etc.).
The people I interact with the most are Garment Designers, Product Managers and Engineers. I am also in regular contact with Supply Managers because they are the ones who give me data on the products that our consumers liked and those that were less popular throughout the season.
Being creative! This is the basis of my job and my day-to-day. You also need to be good at analysing trends and sales. Lastly, you need to be a good communicator; I have to be able to sell my creations and sell the dream, both within NABAIJI and to our users. For example, if you know you have a good print, but you don't know how to sell it, no one's going to choose it!
What I like is that I'm always "doing" something. I draw a lot, I use my drawing tablet a lot but I also do a lot of drawings by hand. I love being able to create. Every year it's different, I have to start afresh and try to come up with something new. Also, when I go to the beach or the pool, I love seeing people wearing my creations, it's the greatest reward and an immense source of pride!
At big team meetings, we generally get together and go head to head in some kind of sport. My favourite memory was during one of these meetings when we were on a rafting activity and I jumped off a 30-foot rock! That was a big challenge for me, I pushed my boundaries.
