CAREERS
A Day in the Life
Steph of Walk the Sand takes us on a midnight romp through the world of Topshop visual merchandising.
I
’ve worked in Topshop, Edinburgh for two years as a top level Visual Merchandiser specializing in accessories and working on new trends. Aspiring to a career in fashion design print, I also wanted to get a real look at what the buying public really wanted—and what better way than to work on the Great British High Street? I do not believe in blindly following trends, but prefer to incorporate catwalk influenced pieces into an outfit that oozes personal style. I get a lot of inspiration from my mother, a very chic woman who dressed to suit her body shape perfectly, all within a sensible budget. I also source a lot of fashion blogs for outfit inspiration, and covet the style of Kate Bosworth, Helena Christiansen, and Alexa Chung. Designer styles I love to emulate include Alexander Wang and Burberry Prorsum, and nothing beats a fabulous vintage find!
8:20 PM
11:00 PM
Get ready for work. Although I work in Topshop, which is considered to be very fashion forward, the amount of running around means I cannot cut about in a pair of heeled clogs. We’re up ladders in stockrooms, dragging rails, and wheeling stock, so I need to be comfy! My staples? Jeggings, flats, oversized tees, and loose blazers and cardigans.
Check reports relevant to specialty areas. The most important of these is the Best Sellers Report, where we monitor what our customers are loving and make sure we have it available so that they can easily shop these pieces in all sizes and colors.
10:00 PM
Place all of the best sellers on a rail, sorted by color range. These are then split into two-to-three color stories. For example, cream with black, lilac and mint green; white with navy, pink and grey; dark yellow-y cream with coral, khaki and red. It’s all about defining the same look but with different colors, since different colors work with different skin tones.
Arrive at work and go through the delivery, pick new lines, and place them into our trends or departments. On a night shift, this means re-merchandising the whole place, launching new trends, debuting a collection or giving the place a refresher. The whole team does a walk-round where we all critique and come up with new ideas for an area, and decide on the best plan of action.
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11:30 PM
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