On the Market: Boutique Buying and Holiday Forecasts
It is 6:15 AM, and I am on the train by myself for the first time heading toward New York City. In hand is biggest cup of coffee I could find. I look around the train car with tired eyes, noticing how every other passenger alreadyopened their laptops and went straight to work. With a couple hours to go from Philadelphia to the Big Apple, I had a lot of time to process the completely new and exhilarating experience in the fashion world I was about to have.
Growing up, I always knew I wanted to have a career in fashion. I watched many movies and television shows, dreaming of having the constant hustle and bustle of a high-fashion, metropolitan lifestyle. I wanted the glamorous showrooms, private cars, and runways. Thanks to my summer internship with a boutique in my hometown, I was finally given the opportunity to make this dream a reality.
When my mentors invited me to New York City for a day to assist with their Holiday and Resort buying, I could not contain my excitement. This was my time to put all my skills and knowledge to the test. I was finally going to get a taste of what being in the NYC fashion sphere was really like. But first, I had to successfully “catch a cab” to head straight to the first appointment and meet up with my team.
It was truly a jam-packed day: A whirlwind of moving from one appointment straight to the next, with a much-needed sushi lunch break somewhere in the middle of the Garment District. Throughout the day, I was able to view the upcoming collections from brands such as Vince, Toccin, Milly, Cinq à Sept, and Marella, along with floor-to-ceiling displays from wholesale jewelers.
What interested me most was identifying the cohesive trends across these distinct collections. Deep purple and rich teal were made strong appearances, establishing themselves as dominant color stories of the season, along with small features of chocolate brown and light pink. Ostrich feathers and sequins also made their way onto textures across multiple pieces. As for wardrobe staples, sheer tops are staying relevant through the winter, alongside classic holiday velvets and embellished collars.
When planning for the Holiday and Resort buy, we had to find the balance of these various textures, metallic accents, and embellishments with the classic core basics our boutique relies on. Ultimately, the most important lesson I learned during my time in the city was to truly know your customer. We saw dozens of stunning pieces we personally loved; however, they simply did not fit the style of “our girl,” or they were scheduled for a delivery window that did not align with the needs of the store or sales floor.
Overall, being intentional with what we were choosing to buy for the Winter season was crucial. It is a rapid transitional season, and a notably tighter buy than Fall or Spring. This smaller room for error required us to make quick decisions on the showroom floors while constantly cross-referencing what we had previously noted from competing brands. However, we did not finalize our orders then and there. Rather, we waited until we returned home to lay out each line sheet from the brands we saw over the past month across the tables in our boutique’s back room. We spent hours precisely curating the collection, filtering every choice through a singular goal: selecting the exact pieces that would make our girl walk into the store, gasp, and say, “I need that in my closet!”
We walked block after block, and it eventually came time for me to catch the final cab of my eye-opening day in the city. Slowly making my way through a gridlock of people and cars heading toward Madison Square Garden for the Knicks playoff game, I found myself staring out the window, wishing the day would never end. The chaotic energy of New York City turned out to feel less like something to be intimidated by, and more like the heartbeat of the fashion industry itself.
As I boarded the train back home and watched the iconic New York City skyline slowly shrink in the distance, I could not take my eyes off it. Getting to experience the behind-the-scenes reality of fashion buying was an important milestone for me. It bridged everything I learned in the classroom and from my mentors with the fast-paced workings of real-world retail. The holiday season may still be months away, but as I sit back in the train car with tired eyes and my empty coffee cup from 6:15 AM, I am already counting down the days until I get to go back.
