What luxury houses are *actually* looking for in a portfolio
Senior designers at Jil Sander, Balenciaga, Paco Rabanne, Louis Vuitton and Celine share what makes a junior portfolio stand out, and the mistakes that instantly weaken it.
By Jorinde Croese
For a lot of young designers, applying to luxury houses still feels strangely opaque. You’re told to make your portfolio ‘strong’, ‘clear’ or ‘professional’, but rarely shown what that actually means from the other side of the cutting table. What do senior designers really want to see? What is usually missing? What makes a portfolio feel thoughtful rather than generic, or original rather than trend-chasing? To make that process a little less mystifying, we asked senior designers at some of the most prestigious houses what they look for in junior portfolios – and what immediately puts them off. Their answers are useful not just for graduates applying for jobs now, but for students still in the middle of school. Because the best portfolios are not thrown together at the end – they are built project by project: through process, research, documentation, technical clarity and a point of view that feels genuinely unique.
What are three things you always want to see in a strong fashion portfolio for a junior role?
Carolyn Kuijer, Senior Print Designer at Jil Sander: Variety of styles: show that you can work with different aesthetics, or take your own aesthetic in different directions. Show that you’re flexible. In the end, you will work for a house that already has a strong DNA of its own, so it’s important that you can adapt to it while still bringing something new to the table. A mix of different techniques: hand drawings, painting, collage, sketches, but also computer skills are really important. Taste: not just in the aesthetics of your work and research, but also in how you present your portfolio. An easy-to-read layout, with not too many things on one page, already shows a lot about how your brain works.
Geoffroy Nicolaï, Senior Designer at Rabanne: A strong approach to volume through mock-ups. A textile approach through sampling. Styling research on the silhouette.
Camille Cazaux, Senior Leather Goods Designer at Louis Vuitton: Technical skills – Adobe Suite, mock-up making. The evolution of a thought – the creation of an idea, a concept, its development. Real iconographic research that shows the candidate’s universe and his or her sensibility.
Edouard Bertrand, Head Designer, Leather Goods at Celine: Authenticity. Singularity. Personal taste – good or bad.
Anonymous Senior Designer at Balenciaga: Ability to sketch, either by hand or with Procreate, Illustrator etc. Nothing crazily artistic, just well-proportioned, modern, communicative and convincing. Almost no fashion student sketches any more, but every company needs sketches at some part of the design process. General clarity and cleanness of communication. Competence in a variety of ways of working.