London Emma Rix has worked her way up from being a clerk to travelling the world with her job as a fashion buyer. We try and spend as much time as we can in store, listening, seeing what the customers are doing, what they re picking up and what they re not picking up. We have to think about wearability and end use. I started off in another company, River Island, about five and a half years ago, just really through having a great interest in fashion, clothes, the whole industry in general, so I thought I d give it a shot. I really just started as a buyer s clerk and worked my way through from there.
Some people go to university and do degrees in textiles etc.
Companies initially look for educational qualifications, so a degree that s relating to either textile design or design itself is useful, but what's more important is that people show a flair for and show they have a creative ability. I work in casual wear, the retail chain, Oasis. That can be trousers, shirts and skirts. I buy suede and leather which is a nice area to work on because it s quite a specialised. I buy ready made garments from the UK and other countries such as Hong Kong, China, Korea, as well as buying fabric, importing it and having it made in England through our home production unit.