Session 7: It’s All the ‘Range’ Right Now

I was so excited to begin this week of the IFS unit, because it was business week; the pathway I want to head down. I honestly found this session incredibly enlightening and insightful and learnt a lot from it!

For this session, we learned primarily about range planning and price architecture. We looked at a variety of range models, as well as the role of a fashion buyer. I took note of the various models, and how their different features catered to different markets – the diamond model for many luxury brands to give an example. I also liked being able to watch the videos beforehand about the role of an ASOS senior buyer and the Alexa Chung for Vogue snippet (as a side note, I’ve watched that entire documentary and thought it was so interesting!), as I was able to go into the class with a little bit of knowledge and preparation of what these classes aim to teach us about possible future careers.

We also learnt about the expectation of our 6 page presentation board for the business pathway of the unit and can I just say I was definitely very overwhelmed! With my desire to be a business student, I feel like I will put a lot of pressure on myself to do well in these tasks, as these are the skills I eventually want to take forward to me. However, I also have a keen interest in the subject, so feel I will enjoy doing these 6 pages.

I like how this session introduced us to the inclusivity of the business portion of the unit, as I have never properly looked into fashion buying before, and so don’t entirely know what the role contained or its effect within the fashion industry.

Beforehand, we also had to complete a merchandise activity sheet that asked us to look at our chosen brand and analyse the stock they had on their website (although if it weren’t for lockdown, this would have been an interesting task to complete in-store). I liked delving further into my research by looking at what Gucci had available on their website and the different categories their clothes came under. One thing I found odd was the category of “denim” which I wouldn’t think would be pertinent for Gucci, as they’re not really known for their denimwear.

For our first activity of the session, we had to create a mind map of various categories of sunglasses in breakout groups. Despite my group being unable to use our microphones to speak to each other due to technical difficulties, I found we worked really well together and every person contributed their ideas through the chatbox. This activity showed us how categories can be broken up into various details, that guide how shoppers interact with products, and it was interesting to see that divide, as I never realised how a product such as sunglasses can be broken up into so many different types that sell to different consumers based on their needs.

After this, we looked at price architecture and how pricing related to range building. We were then given a range building activity to complete individually and I personally really enjoyed the case study feel of it and how we were able to use this task to put together everything we had learned from that session into one single outcome. I also enjoyed bringing in previous knowledge of customer profiles from Toolbox into this and connecting the needs of a consumer to the product being sold.

Before working on formatting my information for this activity, I quickly drafted some notes onto spare pieces of paper. I made a rough outline of who I wanted my customer to be and also noted the trends listed in the WGSN report we were provided. After looking over the short customer profile I had created, I highlighted the trends I felt would best suit my customer based on their needs and focused on shapes and styles that were slimmer and easy to fit in a handbag, as well as timeless styles.

I then compiled this information onto the first page of my range plan, noting my reasons for choosing the three styles I chose and their relation to my customer. I ultimately wanted styles that were portable, contemporary, lightweight and aimed at a younger market, yet still classic, as per my consumer’s fashion attitude and lifestyle. I also went with neutral tones for the frames, sticking to metals and classic prints like tortoiseshell, with coloured tinted lenses to connect to the use of bold colours trend outlined in the WGSN report.

After this, I created a relatively basic range plan diagram, showing the different styles and where they would sit from core products (basic everyday wear that would sell all year round) to leading-edge products (products that hold high design value and would sell at a higher price).

Overall, I feel like I have a good understanding of how range planning works, although I did become a bit confused at all the models we were being shown at one point. I would like to further continue to look at range planning and complete the activity again to better my understanding of it within other product categories. I would also like to include more information and be more precise on the price architecture of my products, as I felt I lacked that in the individual task we did.

Overall, I loved the new skills and knowledge I gained from this session and look forward to our next business session this week to see how we will build upon this. I’m also quite interested to start looking at CAD designs and using them in my work, whether they be templates or ones I create myself using Adobe Illustrator.

Business Package Outline:

  • Front cover
  • Back cover
  • Customer profile
  • Brand research page – using artist research and brand heritage research (collaborative influence)
  • Fashion forecasting and trend development (mood board with colour development
  • Range plan in a single merchandise category (12 – 15 styles)

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