cfi-The Look and The Law Aug 09:The Look, The Law & The Knowledge 2009 07/09/2009 13:55 Pag
HELPING A FASHION BUYER TO HELP YOU
Let’s get off this scary subject and return to your relationship with stores. It is vital
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that you make yourself very familiar with any store you are hoping to persuade to
buy your clothes. You must know not only what labels they already sell, but why.
Look at, say, five labels and ask yourself, “Why these? Why now? What do they
tell me about this establishment’s customer? Are my clothes right for that
customer? Where would they fit in?”. You are thinking adjacency, a vital
consideration for anybody involved in selling clothes in a shop situation.
GARDEN Shops like to make stories with their displays and groupings. Not in a crass or
childish way but in a cleverly worked out, psychological approach that leads the
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potential customer from one label aesthetic to another, similar one. For example, it
would be bad psychology and counter-productive for sales to put YSL next to
MARNI because they are unlikely to have a shared appeal for a customer. If you
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know your aesthetic you should know where your clothes fit on the fashion floor.

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And, no matter how prestigious a retailer may be, there is no point in even
approaching them if you don’t feel comfortable with the labels they already sell.
But supposing you are comfortable and the buyer decides to take a chance on you.
What happens next? Well, you can probably forget the romantic dream of her
saying “Darling, they’re so divine!” and buying the whole collection in one swoop.
It’s probably worth remembering here that buyers always know their customers’
tastes and requirements – on a one-to-one basis with shops like Browns or
Pollyanna and as a general trend in big stores like Harrods or Selfridges. It may
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ASHION FRINGE
seem that anyone and everyone buys at these types of large stores but it isn’t
strictly true. Many people pass through – a process known in the trade as ‘footfall’
– but the ones who come to buy as opposed to those wanting merely to have the
‘shopping experience’ are focused no matter how big or eclectic the range of labels
on offer to them. And, if you are in a store of your choice it will probably be in very
minute numbers. In your early years, it is considered a good commitment if a store
buys 10 garments a season, each one normally a different design from the rest. It
may seem a frustratingly small order but, in fashion retailing, the motto is ‘walk
before you can run’ and it takes time to see if the buyer’s hunch about your
rightness for her customer is right.
CAPTURING ATTENTION
How original can you be? And how much ‘madness’ should you put on the catwalk
to get yourself noticed? Except for couture which, as far as its relationship to
everyday fashion is concerned, has been an exercise in fantasy since the late fifties,
designers have largely used the catwalk to show the clothes they expect their
customers to buy. Calvin Klein, Donna Karan and Giorgio Armani led the move
towards minimalist simplicity. Their message was countered by the fantasy
designers who seemed to see themselves more as artists than creators of clothes
to be worn. Rei Kawakubo, Jean Paul Gaultier and Vivienne Westwood have
www.fashionfringe.co.uk
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