Through my years of working in fashion there have been many times that young professionals and students starting out have scoffed at the idea of working retail at the store level. They do not understand the connection between working in retail and working in fashion which is pretty unbelievable since the two go hand in hand.
Although some may want to create art for art's sake most want to make money. Money is an integral part in supporting the continuance of your art is it not?
In addition to young designers, young marketing, merchandising, public relations professionals and students ask the same thing. Why would I have to work retail? And if you ask them for their 5 year plan it often times includes a corporate office and a luxury brand or a brand of their own. Now to be fair this is not everyone but it has been a growing majority that I have encountered over the past few years. I am not suggesting to the new generation of fashion professionals to not have big dreams, I support them but I also support achieving them intelligently and arming yourself with the strongest background and experience you can have to achieve your big dreams.
What information can you gain from working in retail or in a store?
For starters...
Who is the customer? Age, demographic, socioeconomic background
What are they looking for?
What are the shopping trends?
What are the fashion trends of the average consumer?
How do you reach them and appeal to their sensibilities?
How a retail business operates?
What support systems and positions need to be in place in order to be profitable?
These are just few of the questions that can be answered when working in retail. There is so much more to learn and it will make you a more informed, intelligent and well rounded fashion professional.
Some food for thought...
If you wish to design how do you decide who your audience is, what they are looking for and how to target and reach them? How do you know which cuts, styles and fabrics that targeted customer responds to? How do you strike that balance between incredible editorial appeal that gets you featured in fashion magazines and commercial appeal that will bring you money in the bank?
If you are considering fashion marketing and/or PR how do you know how to reach the audience of the brand you are working for? Who is that customer? What kind of events are most effective and have the highest return on your investment? What marketing and advertising strategies have the biggest impact on the front line when customers come to shop?
If you are a buyer how do you know what to buy? What silhouettes, what fabrics, what colors, what sizes? What prices is your customer looking for? When you are creating business strategies how do you know the best way to execute them on the store level? What is the best way to give product knowledge to the selling teams in the stores? What kind of product information do they need to meet the demands of the customer who is becoming more savvy and more informed?
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