What It Takes to be a Buyer

Through working for The North Face these past three months, I have learned about many more aspects of the fashion/business industry than I ever would have imagined. I knew that I was going to have a great experience here, just based on the job description I was given during my interview over the summer, but my expectations have definitely been exceeded. I have been able to travel to various places (from California to NYC!) and meet countless new people including employees of VF corporation, The North Face, and our various account buyers. From someone who definitely feels more in touch with the visual aspects of fashion such as color, texture, and style, it's very interesting to see the thought process that a buyer goes through. Each account is different, some have one store location, and others have upwards of four store locations. Sometimes an account will have one buyer come in to see the line, and sometimes there are four buyers in the room. A few of the buyers are concentrated on color and style, where other buyers are strictly report based; they know what styles and colors have worked from year to year, and stick to what has worked best in the past based on numbers alone when buying the upcoming line. To be a buyer you really have to be able to separate your personal taste, from your clientele's taste. I know I would be really inclined to buy what I like/think looks good, as opposed to what is most likely to be sold. Another key skill a buyer needs, is to be able to understand other gender/age preferences. For example, some of our buyers are 40-year-old men buying Girl's clothing for their store. As a buyer, you have to know the colors and styles that are not only daughter-approved, but also mommy-approved. Most of us have taken retail-based math classes geared towards buying at Drexel, but they really only teach you the importance of numbers. The classes don't teach you the importance of truly knowing your target market in relation to buying. Color and trends between genders and age groups are vastly different. After working with every type of buyer in the book, it's evident that buying is definitely a skill. It's not something that you can just learn about and dive right in.