Work Placement Number 2!

I started my second placement this week working at a weekly fashion magazine. One of the fashion stylists gave us our introduction, health and safety sheets etc and then showed us where the fashion cupboards were as well as the photocopier/s. She went through the process of sending returns (clothes and accessories sent to the magazine for possible shoots) with us, which i was already familiar with due to my work experience at Reveal the previous year and we got started. There was 5 other work placement girls working alongside me, which I was relieved about as the cupboard was absolutely full of clothes. We couldn’t all fit in there and it was a hazard as we tripped multiple times over clothes or clothing ‘avalanches’ as we called them. We had to clear space out of the cupboard to be able to fit in and start sending stuff back. We did this constantly for the first few days and it became evidently clear that this was our biggest role. We weren’t further introduced to any other of the magazines employees and felt like we didn’t really know what was going on outside of our cupboard! Whereas before during my previous work placements I have worked closely, literally, with employees, we were in our own space away from their open office and there seemed to be not much opportunity to ask questions far away from them whilst they were busy. I was hoping it would get better, and we’d be given more to do and opportunity to talk and ask more about their job role and the magazine.

Questions

I had a few questions I asked the buyers before I left such as wanting to know the relationship between them and the designers. The buyers seemed to have a huge say on what colours, material and fit of the garment. In fittings if they decided they didn’t like it they could go from having it as a tunic to making it a crop top so I thought surely a designer would be annoyed with that if the did design it?! They told me however they have a lot of creativity. The designer draws a rough sketch and then it goes to them.. or sometimes they can contact suppliers and say based on another top they created or similar they want it in a different colour or print etc.. so the designer seems they are not always needed. This really interested me as I had wandered that before even starting placement. However they said that not all companies are like this, they have a lot of creativity but different brands buyers may not, every where would be different.
I got the opportunity to go on a store trip with the merchandisers and they met with the store manager on the store floor. They talked about what had sold well and what hadn’t and the merchandisers had to make sure everything was being marketed and displayed to the best of their ability. All motif tops needed to face outwards, as on a side rail the main detail wouldn’t be seen.
They talked about some of the casual wear and how for a couple of weeks they hadn’t sold well but when they changed the display and put the in a clever colour co-ordinated pattern the sales soared. They also were trying different ways of selling clothes that hadn’t sold well, by displaying it differently and it had increased sales and profits majorly. This was really interesting as I had never grasped how important these merchandising and displays just on the shop floor are. It’s all a creative art and its very well thought about and clever!

Week Two on Buying Placement

So far this week has been again really busy as one of the buyers have been off and with an already busy schedule everyones become even busier. Not just that, but this week has been scheduled to have a review, which is usually every 6 weeks but they have bought it forward and was only 4 weeks since their last one. I had a lot of steaming and hanging clothes to do to help the meeting run smoothly and also had to compile another comp shop.
The meeting lasted around 3 hours, which shows how big it was and how much there was to say. It was a really important review with the senior buyers and merchandisers and buying director. The head merchandiser started by going through the sales, comparing them to last year, expectations for next year and targets. I got very lost during that start and I was warned before that that part would probably ‘go straight over my head’. If you’re not aware of  the terms used or abbreviations on the merchandising sheet report its quite hard to understand and there was a lot of abbreviations and numbers!
The buyers then went through the clothing a few already in, but mostly that of what was still to come into stores. They presented it to the head buyers & director where they gave their views, mostly agreeing with the outfits but if not it would be about making one or two garments a bit cheaper or changing the colour a little, the date they were coming in or to order even  more in or if they wanted it made in a different style of top.
It was really interesting to hear them talking. It was a little surreal as all the merchandisers and BA’s and BAA’s sat watching on as the head buyers and merchandisers sat around a table watching the buyers show clothes and talk about sales. I enjoyed learning how they review their clothes and how well you need to be able to present and communicate so people understand fully what your expectations and requirements are as things would get confused and not be on the same wave length without that.

1st weeks reflection & thoughts!

Reflecting back on my first week it has been very busy and i’ve had a great insight into how buyers work as before I hadn’t really understood how they worked practically on a day to day basis which is a main reason I really wanted work experience in this area.
I was surprised how small the area they work in is. Its small given how many people work there and how the desks are arranged so they can fit nearly as many in as possible. As this is a very successful and popular company who earn millions every week I guess in my head I thought it’d be posh, spacious and next to luxurious. I was very wrong.
The clothing samples are hung all around as they have new samples in everyday, samples to arrange for fittings and meetings so where there aren’t desks there are samples most of the time.
The girls that Im working with work so hard, they come in sometimes extra early and leave late  to insure all the jobs are done.
I got the chance to go into a meeting where they showed huge mood boards of their next inspirations to the next collections due early spring. The buyers shared their thoughts and if they were happy with moving on with that. I asked if the designers created the boards but they said no apparently they all collect pictures, designers and buyers who have to work closely (although i havn’t seen much sign of this yet) of inspirational pictures to start off with and create the mood board, the job taken on by two of the buyers.
I feel I still have a lot to learn. I aim to ask questions about the relationship between the designers. buyers and the clothes, as it seems the buyers have final say in fittings, sometimes altering the clothes a lot which id imagine wouldn’t leave designers happy, but with some items and definitely basic clothes it seems the buyers chose what they want, materials and shape directly with the supplier. Whereas before I thought this would be the designers job to choose shapes etc..  I aim to ask about that this coming week along with how they buyers got into their jobs, what they’re doing when they’re spending their time organising things on the computers, who arranges what items of clothing go into each store.. as well as other questions as I feel although I have learnt this week quite a lot, I have been spending a lot of time steaming clothes and hanging clothes and I still have a lot of questions and still don’t fully understanding all the jobs they have to do each week.

Placement Number 1

Yesterday I started a two-week placement at a well-known high street brand in their buying department. I’m working in the jersey section, which includes casual and smart jersey based clothing.

My main jobs so far have been compiling a spreadsheet on competitive stores prices on specific items, sorting out samples and the sample cupboard and steaming clothes. Yesterday I had the chance to sit in a review which was really interesting where some assistant buyers and BAA’s from each buying group sat in a large meeting room and showed there best selling, number of sales for items in the week, how many ordered/reordered.. etc. I found that really interesting and was a great insight to how they work. They also where arranging fitting sessions for samples with Buyers and the Garment Tech and a model wore each item and they discussed (very quickly) what needs to be changed and emails of the instructions were emailed to the supplier for the next sample to be made up. They had to be quick as it’s important for all the groups to fit in their fitting sessions and they’re all very busy throughout the day.

I’ve found these first two days really interesting to see how the buyers work, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the two weeks as I learn more and ask questions. The other departments are on the same floor so as time goes on I will also get an insight to how they work.

Last of the photo shoot looks...

This is one of my favourite shoots. I was trying to show the freedom of the bohemian / hippie style so i got the model to move round and dance a bit lifting her hands in the air. The natural surroundings and beach worked well with this look I think. I love how the chiffony material is moving in the wind so you can see the kind of material it is and how light, airy and beautiful it is.

This is the final look which was inspired by 80's power dressing yuppies. I'm trying to show powerful work woman-wear. I would've liked to have found a more authentic looking work building rather than this deserted one. I think it could've looked good with people in the background in suits.. but then it may look silly as the other shoots only show the model but if I was going to do it again I would test try it.

Some Photo Shoot Results!

This was the first shoot I did which is supposed to be inspired by 70's style and give a  glam 'lady of leisure' look and concept. I have a lot of photos to go through to chose the ones i want to use. I like the 2nd and 3rd ones but they need a bit of editing. The first one although I like the pose the background is really not right for the look i'm trying to portray. We thought it may look effective with the shadowing but I think it looks like she's just sitting on a dirty floor (not so glam!). So i won't be using this photo.

This is one of my favourites. This is my vintage 50's inspired shoot. It looks effective in black and white because of the shadowing and the shapes created by the parasol. In some of the pictures a button has come undone which is very noticeable on the skirt in front on photos. I realise when I do a photo shoot again  it's up to me to check that everything is perfect and styled perfectly as any mistakes will be noticed straight away in a magazine and cannot afford to do this or do it again.

This photo shoot was to show how punk style is still in fashion and being made and recreated. These studded trousers with rips and the american flag are from Topshop and leather studded jacket from Lipsy both have striking punk influences. I really like the background and i think it looks effective in black and white because of the contrast of the shapes on the wall. We did another shoot for the punk look under the pier which i also like due to the dark dinginess and graffiti, and may use in one of those in my look book too.