Ask Fashion Girl

Dear Christine:

I can see that you're interested in the inner workings of the fashion industry! A showroom is the place where a manufacturer's representative displays samples of next season's merchandise so that Buyers from retail stores, chains, and websites can preview and purchase it for resale. Showrooms generally won't even sell small quantities of merchandise to members of the public like you and me. They only want to sell in large, or"wholesale,"quantities.

A Showroom Representative is the person who manages and presents select fashion lines, whether it be women's, men's, or kids' apparel or home products, and sells to the retail Buyers for consumer end-use. The Showroom Rep is responsible for purchase orders, communication, and customer service. The most important thing they do is following up with the orders, including checking back with Buyers for re-orders. To the Buyers, the Showroom Rep becomes the image for the fashion line. In the course of their work, Showroom Reps meet with retail Buyers and with Designers who are seeking a new Rep, and they'd possibly represent their lines at trade shows.

If you live in Chicago, Dallas, New York, or Los Angeles, try and visit your local market center, where the showrooms are located. In Los Angeles, the California Market Center in downtown LA is open to the public on the last Friday of every month, when the showrooms sell off their sample merchandise to the public.

A degree inMerchandise Marketingwould tie into a career as a Showroom Rep or owner because you need to know how to drive revenue, or income, to your business. Under all the glamour, fashion is still a business, and the more you know about how business works, the more effective you can be!

Good luck, future fashion executive!

Sincerely, Fashion Girl