The Big Issue Student Conference

This year's Student Conference at MMU was a smorgasbord of inspirational fashion industry insiders; the day kicked off with Jacqui Gray, Head of International Sourcing for Florence & Fred who I'd met briefly in Shanghai a few months ago on a study trip.

Jacqui's Big Issue was passion, which she defined as "putting more energy in to something than is required to do it". She spoke of her passion and where it has lead her in life and advised us to follow our own, particularly in reference to working abroad; having worked in Bangladesh and China herself she urged us to be brave, competitive and proactive in finding jobs abroad and to open our minds to developing countries.

Her parting wisdom was to understand your own value-adding skills and how you can convey these to others as well as connecting with others by any means necessary.

Tom Burke followed with a unique and well-informed view of the luxury market and how our changing world has affected it. Tom is an ex-MMU student and is now Assistant Manager of Chanel's global flagship store on New Bond Street in London, the largest boutique in the world.

Tom commented on the development of social media, the brand ubiquity caused by this communications revolution and how this has affected the Decision Making Process for the luxury consumer. He also noted how the ease of travel has meant an increase in global consumers shopping all around the world, resulting in a homogeneous market and the effect this has had on how sales staff interact with consumers. In addition, the democratisation of luxury, which began after WW2, means luxury is more accessible to the masses, resulting in the need to offer better, more tailored service to real luxury consumers and not losing the intrinsic, personal connection in this digital world.

Tom sees the future of luxury consisting of more personalised product opportunities, a decline in luxury sales online and more rebranding and repositioning in the market.

Hillary Alexander interviewed Todd Lynn about his career in the fashion industry, a Central Saint Martins Graduate who has made a name for himself designing the clothes of rock stars from Mick Jagger to Marilyn Manson.

Robert Ott, of Ryerson University in Canada voiced his view on unpaid internships in the fashion industry as glorified exploitation fuelled by nepotism, meaning those with connections can get ahead whilst others struggle to find even unpaid work.

His food for thought was for us to realise only we can break this cycle by ensuring we pay our interns when we are in the position to hire them in the future.

Starting Blocks

Today is the day I start the SS14 range for shirts, ties and accessories. I've just placed the fabric orders for AW13 14 and negotiated delivery dates with all the factories. As my placement comes to an end shortly I've been asked to get the next range finished ahead of time - I'm actually excited at the prospect of everything, not only being on time for once, but early as well!

I'm currently on the train to London to start the process, I'll be visiting the current range and assessing its success by talking with the sales staff and asking what they'd like to see for spring summer. I'll then visit our competitors and see what they're doing (a bit cheeky but everyone has to do it - you don't want to miss out on a major trend).

If I've got time I will also try to visit the V&A, they've got a David Bowie exhibition starting this week, his flamboyant and eccentric style has influenced many a designer over the decades including the great Paul Smith (see this weeks Mr Porter Journal).

On the train back tonight I'll write up my conclusions and ideas for SS14 and when I'm back in the office I'll look at the fabrics from Premiere Vision (see my previous post). I'll then choose the range, creating initial design boards.

I also like to look at trend forecasting site Mudpie, partly because I'm passionate about this aspect of the industry but also for inspiration with colours, vision and accessories.

Once the fabrics are finalised I'll create the design sheets, choosing the fit, collar, cuffs, trims and design details. I also have to take in to account the suits which are overlooked by a separate buying team we try to make the range cohesive so they sit well in stores and encourage add on sales.

When we have the finished shirt range; prices have been negotiated, deliveries agreed and all elements (branding, trim, fabrics etc) have been synchronised we meet with merchandise who tell us how much of each shirt we can buy and asses our margins (being a small but luxury brand means margins are tight). Quantities may then affect prices- if we don't meet minimums on fabrics we can be charged extra which is why it's important to form good relationships with suppliers- they can sometimes let you off the surcharges!

From the shirts, the ties and accessories fall in to place and colours are developed. Since starting on this brand I've been pushing for tie bars - perhaps an obvious thing but with tight margins any risk can be detrimental. At the conference earlier in the month (see my previous blog) store managers asked to see them along with a whole new range of accessories which I'm now going to develop.