My introduction to the Fashion World

My introduction to the Fashion World

This was a very exciting time in my life. I was now immersed into the very basics of the fashion world. In order to be successful we had to know not only fashion design but also the fabrics used to make the fashions. Of course a good part of the excitement was traveling to New York every three weeks. I remember staying in a hotel that is now closed but was located about a block from Time Square and only a few blocks from the majority of my market and the Associated Merchandising Corporation Buying offices. AMC was a buying group that negotiated prices based on the total needs of all of its members. Most of these products were of a staple verses fashion nature. They also assisted us in making appointments, hotel reservations, printed a fashion update, and published a list of all buyers who were in the market each week. They were also our contact point for incoming calls and assistance on anything from travel plans to doctors if necessary. I also served on their fabric buying committee because we were one of the top two volume purchasers of staple fabrics like cotton broadcloth and basic woolens.

Now the nature of my mentors was quite different. The people I mentioned in the previous chapter helped me learn how to manage a retail business. The people who helped me understand the fashion world were not part of my organization but part of the fabric markets. They were a native New Yorker, Abe, who taught me how to work the markets. He owned a cotton fabric manufacturing company. He showed me where to go and how to buy. It was Abe who introduced me to the downtown fabric market. There were three or four merchants on lower Broadway who seemed to be able to get inventories of very popular brand name fabrics for about 20% of the normal wholesale price. I would spend one day each week in market shopping this market and about ever other trip would find some fantastic bargains. This would allow me to mix this inventory with my full priced inventory and when I had sales I was able to mark the fabrics down significantly without impacting my margins.

Frequently other buyers and myself would end our day in Abe’s bar at the back of his showroom and discuss the day’s successes and failures. Abe had never been West of the Hudson River and never had a driver’s license or owned a car. We became so close, that Abe wanted to see my store and he took his first trip, by train to Ohio, to see me. I was very excited to see him in my store.

I also remember another experience, with another New York mentor. The owner of a world-renowned woolen fabric house. When you were in the market you were expected to visit his establishment and have lunch with him and other buyers at Shakespeare’s Tavern, which was across the street from his showrooms. Here you had the opportunity to mingle with buyers from all over the world and trade ideas and experiences. Mostly I listened and learned a lot.

Part of the fun of the market was the time I would spend in the high fashion show rooms. After abut three months in the business I began to hear the seamstresses who used our department for their clients talk about wanting more high fashion fabrics. My lunches at Shakespeare’s tavern lead me to several very expensive high fashion fabric houses. In visits to these show rooms fabrics were not just on display but were made into garments and modeled for our viewing. This not only showed the fabric well but also gave us ideas to pass on to our customers. This also led me to using real models at least once a week instead of just mannequins. We also began to participate in the stores fashion shows.

One of the most successful fabric houses specialized in very stylish cotton print. It was a French Company Bouclé Fabrics. They had an annual contest to select the models they would use for their world tour. Because of the volume we did with them we were selected as one of the tour stops in the US. What a great event for us. The show was on a Saturday and the models and their entourage arrived on Wednesday. They modeled on our floor twice a day and then had a two-hour fashion show on Saturday morning. This event not only sold a lot of Bouclé fabrics but also boosted the sales of all our fabrics.

Since the fabric business was primarily a Spring, Summer and Fall business, my boss asked me to take on the Trim-A-Tree business which required one trip to New York to find new and unique Holiday items and then open five shops in the store from November to January with a final sale in January. My last two holiday seasons in retailing, I was at the store from 8:00AM until 7:00PM five days a week and 10:00 PM two days a week.

In addition to this experience during my last year we opened the first branch in our history. We were all frightened that this new branch idea would erode our volumes and the main store. It did not while I was there but probably did as more and more branches were added.

Lessons learned:

1. Mentors are not always obvious, be alert to anyone who is interested in you.

2. The best mentors are not assigned.

3. The people who are on the front lines dong the work and facing the customer always know more than you about your business.

4. Listen to your customer with an open mind.

5. Try new approaches to old processes often.

6. Seek out and learn from peers and suppliers.

7. Don’t forget your family. (More about that later)