Fashion Buying

Fashion Buying History

"Fashion has changed dramatically in a relatively short period. This is largely due to the industrialization and recent advances. Fashion buying and merchandising began with a much lower profile. This was due to the place fashion occupied in daily life and society. Fashion did not begin as an industry. It simply existed.

Fashion existed exclusively as the made-to-order work of single craftsmen.

The Industrial Revolution opened the door to mass-produced garments (and artist and those with taste wept). The distribution and retails to support this soon followed, and the co9bblers and peddlers could no longer compete.

Retailers continued to expand from there along with production. The quantity of product purchased also increased. This raised the stakes.

More product meant a greater investment, and stakeholders needed better professionals to reduce risk. Groups of specialist buyers and merchandisers were formed, and there was heavy investment in defining and understanding their specialist skills and the finer areas of product they manage."

Hebrero. A (2015).

Above I have done some research into the history of fashion buying and how the job role was created and a market created for it.

Fashion Buying Today

Fashion buying today is one of the most important retail functions. Because it directly affects sales, margins and overall profitability and success of the retailer.

The wat trends are set in fashiom has totally changed over the years.

It used to be that trends are set through big fashion shows and events in Paris, and whatever was In would be the trend for the coming year and everyone would just follow.

Social media, However completely changed this dynamic.

Nowadays, trends are extracted from what people decide is popular. This is driven more by ordinary people using social media to share their style and taste, and these then go viral and get picked up by others and become trends on their own.

That’s why, today’s fashion buyers are not only expected to attend trade shows and keep up with fashion magazines to know what’s on style, they also need to follow trends on social med, and even subscribe to trend forecasting services.

Laura Larbalestier - Fashion Buyer to Group Fashion Director

Laura Larbalestier began her career at Selfridges in 2003, where she remained for eight years. She was responsible for developing the women’s designer ready-towear business.

In 2011, Laura joined Browns Fashion as Buying Director overseeing women’s readyto-wear, fine jewellery, shoes and bags.

Laura made the move to leading luxury retailer, Boutique 1, as Buying Director in June 2017. Here, she will lead the buying strategy for the store network, including the recently opened European flagship in London and the newly relaunched Boutique1.com. She also sits on the BFC NewGen committee.

She has now joined Harvey Nichols as Group Fashion Director in charge of Men’s, Women’s and Accessories.

https://www.woolmarkprize.com/judges/laura-larbalestier/