Industry Job: Fashion Buyer

Do you ever wonder how merchandise ends up in a store? How it has the stock that it has? And why those choices? As easy as it sounds to simply stock the shelves of any store (after all there are so many choices of products these days) it's quite more complex than it sounds. Let me just point out that if you should go into a Macy's the items on the shelf are much different than if you were to go into a Nordstroms, or for that matter, a Neiman Marcus.

The people in charge of this awesomely intricate facet of the fashion industry are Fashion Buyers, and there is more to their job than just stocking a store. Let's take a dive into their world.

// img via kontrol

As everyone knows the hottest seats at a fashion show are those in the front row. Despite the thought that slews of celebrities line the catwalk; many of them are fashion insiders such as editors, stylists, media maven, and fashion buyers. Fashion Week begins the process of collaborative pursuits of fashion forecasting. As buyers gear up to provide the hottest trends, Fashion Week is the beginning to the pursuit of successful sales in upcoming retail months. Not only do they have access to Fashion Week, but behind the scenes they are able to see designer showrooms, showcasing a further extent of their collections past what is seen on the runway.

Trends that are seen on the runway, as well as showrooms, somehow make it into consumer's closets. But how? Fashion buyers note the commonality of trends that are seen throughout fashion shows and in turn work hand-in-hand with their flagship company to develop these trends into affordable items, meaning they work with their in-house designer to "cut corners" to create a cost-less item to be placed on the shelves.