Chanel Product Manager — Woven Textiles
About Chanel
Chanel is a privately owned global luxury house renowned for couture, ready-to-wear, accessories and haute jewellery. The brand is synonymous with craftsmanship, rigorous attention to detail and creative leadership across fashion and beauty. As an employer, Chanel emphasizes artisanal savoir‑faire, multidisciplinary collaboration between ateliers and studios, and a discreet, highly professional environment.
Chanel in Paris seeks a Product Manager — Woven Textiles to lead fabric development and supplier relations for ready-to-wear collections.
Role & Responsibilities
- Lead end-to-end product development for woven fabrics across collections, from concept and trend interpretation to industrialisation and in‑line production.
- Define material strategy, seasonal specifications and technical packs (fabrics, constructions, finishes) in collaboration with design and merchandising teams.
- Manage supplier relationships, negotiate terms, oversee sampling cycles and ensure compliance with quality and delivery timelines.
- Coordinate cross‑functional stakeholders (design, sourcing, production, quality control, costing) to align on timelines, budgets and technical constraints.
- Monitor costs and margins, propose value engineering solutions and validate final costs against commercial targets.
- Drive fit-for-purpose quality control and testing protocols; resolve non-conformities both at supplier and factory level.
- Stay abreast of textile innovations, sustainability practices and market trends to feed seasonal material direction and innovation projects.
- Prepare and present materials and development status to internal committees and senior management.
Qualifications
- Proven expertise in woven textiles with demonstrated success developing fabrics for luxury apparel.
- Strong technical knowledge of textile constructions, weaving techniques, finishes and laboratory testing.
- Proven ability to manage supplier portfolios and international sourcing operations.
- Excellent organisational skills with the capacity to manage multiple seasonal calendars and rapid development cycles.
- Commercial acumen with experience in costing, margin analysis and negotiation.
Skills
Experience
Several years of progressive experience (typically 3–7 years) in product or material development within woven textiles for luxury fashion houses, mills or specialised textile suppliers; experience with international sourcing is preferred.
Education
Degree in textile engineering, materials science, fashion design or equivalent vocational training in textiles.
Workplace
This position is based in Paris, Île-de-France, France.
Culture
Chanel blends a heritage of haute couture craftsmanship with a forward-looking design ethos. The workplace culture prizes precision, discretion and close collaboration between creative ateliers and technical teams, offering a professional environment where artisanal excellence and innovation coexist.
About Cerulean
Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.
Frequently Asked Questions
The luxury industry is characterised by a diverse and nuanced nomenclature. Esteemed houses frequently employ proprietary terminology, and even within a single organisation like Chanel, titles may vary across global markets to reflect local conventions. To ensure absolute clarity, Cerulean assigns a standardised, industry-coherent canonical title to every listing. However, it is worth noting that this role is functionally synonymous with «Woven Textiles Product Manager», «Textile Product Manager — Wovens», «Fabric Development Manager», «Material Product Manager», and other variations. Our sophisticated search architecture anticipates these variations, ensuring that inquiries using related terms will seamlessly yield the exact roles you desire.