Handmade Clothing Designer (Volunteer)

Handmade Clothing Designer (Volunteer)

PromiseBrands | Fashion, Textile Design & Artisan Production

Organization: Mentor A Promise (MAP)

Division: PromiseBrands

Location: Remote with NYC-based collaboration as needed

Type: Volunteer Creative Role

Commitment: Approximately 5–10 hours per week

Minimum Commitment: 6-month commitment required

Works Closely With: Fashion Creative Director, Fashion & Textile Designers, Patternmakers, Sewing and Production Team, Product Designers, Models, and PromiseBrands Leadership

About Mentor A Promise

Mentor A Promise (MAP) is a New York City–based nonprofit supporting children and youth ages 5–18 experiencing housing instability through mentorship, literacy, education, social-emotional learning, creative expression, storytelling, and community-centered opportunity.

Through PromiseBrands, MAP explores how design, craftsmanship, culture, sustainability, and creativity can come together to create meaningful products and experiences while supporting our broader mission.

About PromiseBrands

PromiseBrands is MAP’s brand, fashion, product, design, and creative experience division.

Our fashion work brings together designers, makers, craftspeople, and other creatives interested in developing original pieces with attention to craftsmanship, materials, storytelling, and responsible design.

We believe handmade clothing has a particular value: every piece reflects the time, skill, creativity, and human hands behind its creation.

Role Overview

Mentor A Promise is seeking talented Handmade Clothing Designers to help design and create original garments and textile pieces for PromiseBrands.

We are especially interested in designers and makers skilled in traditional and contemporary handcraft techniques, including:

• Hand knitting
• Crochet
• Sewing
• Embroidery
• Weaving
• Quilting
• Hand embellishment
• Textile manipulation
• Upcycling and reconstruction
• Other garment-making and textile crafts

The Handmade Clothing Designer will have opportunities to develop original concepts, experiment with materials and techniques, create prototypes and finished pieces, and collaborate with MAP’s broader fashion and creative teams.

We welcome both experienced designers and highly skilled independent makers and artisans whose expertise may have been developed outside traditional fashion-industry pathways.

Key Responsibilities

Handmade Garment Design & Creation

• Design and create original handmade garments, accessories, and textile pieces.
• Translate sketches, concepts, mood boards, or creative direction into physical designs.
• Select appropriate yarns, fabrics, fibers, trims, and other materials.
• Apply handcraft techniques with strong attention to construction, durability, fit, and finish.
• Create prototypes, samples, and finished pieces.
• Explore new combinations of traditional craftsmanship and contemporary design.
• Maintain high standards of quality throughout the making process.

Creative Development

• Develop original garment concepts individually and collaboratively.
• Contribute ideas for collections, capsule projects, special pieces, and creative experiments.
• Participate in design reviews and creative discussions.
• Research relevant materials, techniques, craftsmanship traditions, and design references.
• Experiment with color, texture, silhouette, pattern, construction, and material.
• Help develop pieces with a recognizable creative identity rather than simply reproducing existing designs.

Craftsmanship & Responsible Design

• Champion the value of handmade and small-scale production.
• Explore responsible sourcing, durability, repairability, reuse, and waste reduction.
• Help identify opportunities to incorporate reclaimed, repurposed, or responsibly sourced materials.
• Document construction techniques when appropriate so successful designs can be understood or reproduced.
• Respect the cultural origins and histories of traditional textile and garment-making techniques.

Collaboration

• Work with Fashion Creative Directors and designers to develop cohesive concepts.
• Collaborate with patternmakers, sewists, textile designers, product developers, and other makers.
• Participate in fittings and make appropriate garment adjustments.
• Work with models when evaluating fit, movement, comfort, and presentation.
• Collaborate with PromiseStudios when photography, film, or other visual production is needed to document completed work.
• Share knowledge and techniques with other members of the creative team.

Artisan & Craft Traditions

PromiseBrands is particularly interested in building a creative community that respects the knowledge held by craftspeople.

We recognize that expertise does not always come from a design school or traditional fashion career.

A person who has spent years knitting, sewing, crocheting, embroidering, weaving, tailoring, or practicing another textile craft may possess extraordinary technical and creative knowledge.

We want to create space for that expertise.

At the same time, PromiseBrands seeks to approach culturally rooted craft traditions responsibly—learning their histories, appropriately recognizing their origins, and avoiding the careless appropriation or misrepresentation of traditional designs and techniques.

Ideal Candidate

Strong candidates may bring experience in:

• Handmade fashion
• Fashion design
• Knitwear
• Crochet
• Sewing or tailoring
• Textile design
• Embroidery
• Weaving
• Quilting
• Fiber arts
• Patternmaking
• Upcycling
• Costume construction
• Artisan or traditional crafts

Formal fashion education is not required.

We value demonstrated craftsmanship, creativity, curiosity, reliability, and willingness to collaborate.

Strong candidates will demonstrate:

• Skill in at least one garment-making or textile craft
• Strong attention to detail and finishing
• Understanding of garment construction
• Creative and conceptual thinking
• Ability to interpret creative direction
• Appreciation for materials and craftsmanship
• Willingness to experiment and learn
• Ability to complete projects reliably
• Respect for other designers' ideas and intellectual contributions
• Commitment to responsible and collaborative creative practice
• Alignment with MAP’s mission and values

What Success Looks Like

Success means PromiseBrands develops handmade work that feels intentional rather than mass-produced, contemporary without losing respect for craft, and creative without sacrificing quality.

Designers bring their own ideas and techniques to the team.

Craft knowledge is shared and preserved.

Materials are selected thoughtfully.

Finished pieces demonstrate care in both concept and construction.

And the people who actually make the work are recognized as an essential part of the creative process.

Why This Role Matters

Before clothing became an industry, it was a craft.

Someone selected the fiber.

Someone developed the technique.

Someone cut, stitched, knitted, woven, embroidered, repaired, and passed knowledge from one generation to another.

PromiseBrands wants to preserve that human connection while exploring what handmade fashion can become today.

Bring your craft. Bring your imagination. Make something that carries the unmistakable evidence of human hands.

Commitment

• Approximately 5–10 hours per week
• Minimum 6-month commitment required
• Remote design collaboration with NYC-based opportunities as needed
• Reliable participation in project and design meetings
• Timely communication and follow-through
• Ability to meet agreed creative and production timelines

What You’ll Gain

• Opportunity to develop original handmade fashion and textile projects
• Collaboration with designers, creative directors, models, makers, and other creative professionals
• Portfolio-building opportunities and appropriate creative credit
• Experience developing work from concept through finished garment
• Opportunities to experiment with materials and traditional and contemporary techniques
• Professional references and letters of recommendation
• Opportunity to help build the handmade and artisan design practice within PromiseBrands

How to Apply

Interested candidates should apply directly through Idealist and submit:

• Resume or brief description of relevant experience
• Portfolio, photographs, or examples of handmade work
• Brief statement of interest

Applicants are encouraged to identify the techniques they specialize in—such as knitting, crochet, sewing, embroidery, weaving, tailoring, quilting, upcycling, or other textile crafts.

A formal fashion background is not required. Exceptional craft speaks for itself.

Help us bring together craftsmanship, creativity, culture, and purpose—one piece at a time.

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with Mentor A Promise. At this time, volunteer opportunities are limited to individuals based in the United States due to legal, safeguarding, data-privacy, and programmatic requirements. We appreciate your interest in our mission and your understanding of these requirements.