How to Get Started As a Fashion Buyer
The title fashion buyer conjures up dreams of traveling to chic cities and mingling with creative designers in the hopes of uncovering the most salable, stylish garments. But breaking into the competitive world of fashion is no easy feat. Fashion buyers must have extensive knowledge of everything from fabrics and the fashion seasons to merchandising and budgets. Learning about the industry will help you discover if a fashion career is right for you.
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Instructions
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Research what a fashion buyer does. Becoming a fashion buyer involves more than predicting fashion trends and having a keen eye for style. It also involves organization, purchasing, budgets, accounting, retail displays and a thorough knowledge of fabrics, clothing design, the fashion seasons and clothing categories. Websites like www.stylecareer.com offer downloadable guides such as "Breaking Into and Succeeding as a Fashion Merchandiser," which are a great starting point for anyone considering a career in the retail fashion industry.
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Place yourself in a fashion market. You don't need to be in a big city to begin a career as a fashion buyer, but living in high-fashion locales like New York, Paris, Milan or Los Angeles provides more opportunities and more exposure to the fashion world.
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Go to fashion school. While a degree in fashion is not mandatory, graduating from an accredited school such as the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City or the Academy of Art University in San Francisco will prepare you for a career in fashion and prove to potential employers that you are serious about your future as a fashion buyer.
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Get a fashion internship. An internship at a fashion showroom or retail house will help you gain real-world experience in the fashion retail and merchandising arena. Whether you are assisting a senior fashion buyer or working behind the scenes with an independent fashion designer, you will acquire indispensable on-the-job skills and make valuable connections that can help you later on in your career.
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Tips & Warnings
Attend fashion-related events. Fashion shows, trunk sales and boutique openings are ideal places to network with like-minded people and discover unadvertised career opportunities.
