Exemplary fashion expertise, procuring garments to meet client needs, understanding current trends and enabling brands to raise profiles and secure increased profit. Liaise with suppliers, developing robust professional relationships, mediating between suppliers and clients, undertaking focused visits, on a global basis, to ensure optimum working practices.
• Source and procure quality knitwear for distinguished high-street brands, understanding customer needs and utilising knowledge of current trends to deliver focused advice • Manage entire process from collection development to order placement, overseeing production • Ensure orders are shipped in a timely manner • Build and develop robust customer relationships, based on trust and integrity, liaising with key clients including Primark • Oversee brand accounts at factories and factories accounts at brands • Onboard new global clients, including Pimkie and Camaieu from France and Dunnes Stores from Ireland • Analyse client brands, understanding individuality of client's offering, position within the fashion world, and retail direction, seeking to add positive value to identity • Negotiate processes • Undertake market intel and benchmark analysis • Oversee product developments, facilitating production meetings, submitting fit samples, obtaining feedback from the buying team, and disseminating information to factories • Deliver weekly product critical paths, managing production, providing current information to buying teams regarding production steps and potential delays • Mediate between brands and production, disseminating information and ensuring transparent communication processes are in place
• Instrumental in building, growing and directing customer accounts, managing price negotiations with factories to reach target cost price/ selling price • Managed seasonal / annual budgets, negotiating with clients • Presented market intel and benchmark analysis report, liaising with buying teams, receiving their trend boards, initiating the development of collections with designers at factories • Made robust decisions on styling details, gauge, knitting pattern and yarn quality • Led and managed development and production teams • Responded swiftly to customer product requests • Calculated cost prices • Assessed development samples, obtaining optimum version of requested CADs and designs, collaborating designers to create better products according to customer needs • Undertook international customer visits, attending collection meetings