Becoming a Buyer?

[BetteT]

Fashion School is not the only way to becoming a buyer ... in fact, buying is more about numbers and profit than it is about fashion. It about how much to buy, at what cost and whether or not you can sell most of the inventory that you bought. The skills you learn in business school or more important ... focusing on buying and merchandising. Thye are the exact same skills you would use in any retail or wholesale outlet, car parts, groceries, home decor ... or clothing.

Of course, if you want to buy only fashion, having a good fashion eye and knowing how trends work (not what is currently trendy ... but how long it takes for a trend to go from runway to retail and how long the consumer may want to buy something before it becomes stale ... the timeline of trends) would definitely help you on the job.


So ... No ... fashion school is not necessary. There's lots of information about how people get there, earlier in this thread. I suggest you read it.

 

[Sweet rus]

Thank god, someone's in the same position I was a few months ago in New York, plus I needed a visa which I guess put the companies off to my resumes, by the way I meant financial consulting. Good luck with your jobs search

Well, without work authorization you are not going anywhere. i am on OPT (optional practical training), so I can work for a year, but ideally I need H-1 sponsorship, which is a turn-off for many companies. What i also noticed here is that many companies are not even looking for full-time employees, they want freelancers, which means that in many cases you just work your regular 40 h a week (or more), but you are getting paid really low and can be gotten rid of any moment easily. I checked on linkedin and some of the postitions have 300+ applications from this social media channel alone. Well, I guess you have ro pay the price for living your dream. Thanks a lot

 

[Sweet rus]

by the way I meant financial consulting.

With regards to this question, if you do analytics in finance, you can switch to buying or any role requiring strong analytical skills easily. I actually heard from one of the executives in the company I was interning in that he was a financial analyst in NY (working days and nights), but then his gf introduced him into fashion and he changed his career path. Another executive said she was holding different roles including the one of an Executive assistant and now she is in Merchandising. You never know where you are going to end up working. I guess, the main thing is to get your foot in the door first, and then you can manouver. It does not have to be buying, even though it would be perfect to start from this very position. It also depends on the market. When I was trying to make a career change in Moscow, the closest i have gotten to the industry was having an interview for a personal assistant postition in a famous multi-brand store chain, and that's it (even though I have a finance background, which should be great for buying). If I have to be back, it is going to be very hard to find anything buying related, as there are literally from 0 to 1,5 job openings available

 

[Davana]

Well I'm a buyer for Dolce so here:

I choose the sizes and looks by past sales from previos seasons and sometimes guess what would be the most appropiate for the typical client of the store

And yes I do use the past sales figures to choose sizing. sometimes I do order 4 sizes usualy 4,6,8,10 but I can't do that all the time [Like with $$$$ items] and I do have a limited budget a limited but reasonable budget

And like Lena said the buying starts way before the shows like through the showroom in my case in Milan or New york

This was so helpful and such an eye opener thank you so much. I have just started an online womens fashion retail store and was looking for some insight on how it all works.
Your comment has helped me to learn how to plan and forecast for each season, Thank you.