Job Specification: Fashion Buyer – High End Designer Boutique
Position Title: Fashion Buyer
Location: Dublin City
Employment Type: Part-Time
Role Overview:
The Fashion buyer is responsible for curating an exceptional and commercially successful product portfolio for both our stores and website across all categories that aligns with the boutique's luxury positioning.
This role requires a deep understanding of high-end designer collections, emerging fashion trends, and customer preferences. The buyer will work closely with key brand partners, internal merchandising and marketing teams, and senior management to ensure that the boutiques remain a leading destination for luxury fashion. The role involves a strategic mix of fashion knowledge, analytical thinking and commercial awareness.
The business objective is to provide a unique, customer-centric shopping experience, whilst delivering excellent commercial performance. The business is ambitious, and sales driven with a major focus on creating an exceptional retail environment across all sales channels.
A keen sense of personal style and deep interest in fashion are essential for this role. The buyer will work within the buying team as a fashion expert to analyse the market, trends, customers behaviours and previous sales to make buying decisions.
Key Responsibilities include:
Product Strategy & Selection
* Source and build ready to wear collections from established and emerging designer brands to reflect current trends, ensuring each range is commercial and meets company objectives and customer needs.
* Conduct trend research and competitive market analysis to inform buying decisions.
* Attend international fashion weeks, market appointments and showroom visits to preview collections and negotiate exclusives.
* Build seasonal collections that reflect the boutique's aesthetic, target customer and commercial strategy.
Vendor & Relationship Management
· Develop, build and maintain strong relationships with luxury leading designer brands, agents and showrooms.
· Negotiate pricing, terms, exclusivity agreements, delivery schedules and order quantities
· Manage buying budgets for each brand and allocation of spend per brand per season in line with overall brand performance.
· Ongoing analysis, performance and review of current brands to ensure that KPI's are achieved.
Operational Excellence
· Mange the buying cycle including product selection, order placement, tracking, delivery follow-ups, and discrepancy resolution.
· Prepare for & present regular in-house reviews and presentations.
· Keep up to date with trends and continuously review marketplace.
· Train and mentor the sales team in the seasonal buys.
· Oversee quality control of products and liaise with suppliers on same.
Skills & Experience Requirements
* 3+ years' experience in a similar role within luxury fashion retail.
* A true passion and energy for global luxury fashion brands and trends.
* Excellent negotiation, communication and relationship-building skills.
* Strong analytical ability and proven track record managing high-value buying budgets.
* Highly adept Computer skills including Excel & Powerpoint.
* Ability to initiate and build strong relationships with other key stake holders.
* Highly organised, detail oriented and able to manage multiple concurrent buying cycles.