The Fashion Industry

The fashion industry is a weird and wonderful world. Most people associate it with the glossy mags, the celebrity stylists and the people walking around kissing the air smiling and saying “daaalink vat aaah you vearing… it’s simply divine!”. Maybe that is the case in some areas of the fashion industry but when you really get to know it, there’s a lot more to it than you think!

First of all the industry itself can be split into three ways: stores (the customer facing shops where the fashion is sold), head office (where all the fashion items are developed and where many of the decisions of what to put in the stores are made) and suppliers (where the products are developed and made).

Then the industry can be categorised further. It can be split by size from small (such as boutiques and Haute couture), to medium (maybe a .com business, or a family run firm), to big (the factories, the multi-national companies, and the big high street brands).

After that there is the high end and the low end, but don’t let the terms fool you…

The ‘end’ refers to the market and the target customer. The high end tends to focus on smaller and more niche markets. Here you’ll find your Gucci, D&G, Prada etc. and the smaller independent boutiques.

Then there is the low end, here you’ll be looking at your value retailers such as the Supermarket clothing brands like George (ASDA) or the likes of Primark, New Look and Matalan. These are some of the biggest companies to work for in the industry. They mean business and work with big numbers in terms of turnover and volume sales. This is a fast paced competitive market.

Somewhere in the middle are the likes of the Arcadia (Topshop, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Wallis etc.),Next , M&S, and Mosaic group (Moss Bross, Oasis, Karen Millen, Warehouse etc.).

So… that’s the industry itself, but what about the jobs themselves? There are lots of jobs you can do but these will differ by the three way split: stores, head office and suppliers.

• Stores: You can build a career from the shop floor right through to store management, and even beyond to regional and then divisional management. You may even end up looking after whole countries or continents if your company is global.

• Head office: Roles include: Buying, Merchandising, Design, Garment technology, Sourcing, Supply Chain, Finance, Marketing, Retail operations, Human Resources and more!

• Suppliers: This will largely depend on the type of supplier, but there will usually be: product developers, pattern cutters, account managers, garment technologist, and merchandisers among other roles.

What is involved in those roles is often company specific so you will need to do research to find out exactly what “Buying” means to that company. E.g. in one company it may mean ‘Product Selection’ – where you select from a pre-developed range for their stores. Or is it ‘Product Development – where you are involved from the product from the design concept time right through to the end e.g. at George of ASDA.

Not all of these roles require you to have a fashion specific education, or a flare for design. If you have business related skills and education, it may be more obvious that you would be well suited to these roles. Science subjects, however, involve many of the same skills needed such as analysing figures and making recommendations based on your findings!

Choosing which company to work for is difficult, and will completely depend on you. Each company will have their own personality, their own culture and feel. While the brand will often say a lot about a company, the only way you will ever really know which one is right for you is by gaining some work experience there!

To find out more about what roles are available at George click here.

For more top tips about how to get started in the industry visit: www.george.jobs/gettingstarted