How I Got Here: Harrolds’ Womenswear Buyer on building a career from the shop floor
IMAGE VIA Roshali Kaul
WORDS BY CAIT EMMA BURKE
“Building your network is key. You have no idea where the people you meet will end up so it is incredibly important not to burn any bridges.”
Have you ever stalked someone on LinkedIn and wondered how on earth they managed to land that wildly impressive job? While the internet and social media might have us believe that our ideal job is a mere pipe dream, the individuals who have these jobs were, believe it or not, in the same position once, fantasising over someone else’s seemingly unattainable job.
But behind the awe-inspiring titles and the fancy work events lies a heck of a lot of hard work. So what lessons have been learnt and what skills have proved invaluable in getting them from daydreaming about success to actually being at the top of their industry?
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Welcome to How I Got Here, where we talk to women who are killing it in their respective fields about how they landed their awe-inspiring jobs, exploring the peaks and pits, the failures and the wins, and most importantly the knowledge, advice and practical tips they’ve gleaned along the way.
This week we speak to Roshali Kaul, the Womenswear Buyer at luxury Australian retailer Harrolds. Fashion and styling were always an obsession for Roshali, so it made perfect sense for her to start her career on the shop floor. Slowly, she worked her way up and landed retail positions with luxury brands like Prada. On the side, she studied public relations and had the chance to intern for high-end brands, but ultimately realised that public relations wasn’t for her.
Recognising that products were always her passion, she undertook a Master’s in Fashion Brand Management, which led to an internship with the buying and merchandising team at Jimmy Choo, marking the beginning of her journey into buying. A buying role with a fast fashion brand and a challenging product development position helped her refine her understanding of the type of brands and companies she wanted to work for, and allowed her to gain valuable technical knowledge. She credits her ability to form strong relationships and her drive to gain experience across a variety of facets of the fashion industry as being key to her success. Here’s what she’s learnt along the way.
What do you do and what’s your official job title?
I am the Womenswear Buyer at Harrolds where I oversee the women’s portfolio across all categories. At last count, I think [we] work with about 50-plus brands!
Take us back to when you were first starting out. Did you study to get into your chosen field, or did you start out with an internship/entry-level role and climb the ladder? Tell us the story.
I didn’t study buying. I actually have a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations and Marketing and a Master’s in Brand Management. Becoming a buyer is a career path that sprang [up] very organically for me. I have always been obsessed with fashion and styling. I am someone who can shop anywhere and everywhere. So naturally, my very first job was selling shoes. I worked my way up in retail to bigger and more luxurious brands. I joined Prada when I was 19 which felt like a huge achievement at the time. I was so in awe of the level of meticulous detail in every aspect of such a luxurious brand and I knew working at this level of fashion would be my focus and ultimate goal.
While at uni, we had to do an internship in our final year and I managed to secure a position with the then-Gucci Group (now Kering). I interned with the PR team looking after Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta and Gucci. While an incredible experience, I realised working that PR wasn’t for me. I was more interested in the product than anything else. After graduating with a degree in something I now knew I didn’t want to make into a career, I decided to move to London to do my Master’s in Fashion Brand Management. I was fascinated by the business side of fashion and wanted to educate myself. In London, my eyes really opened to what top-tier retail looked like and I was so inspired.
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When it was time to decide what kind of internship I wanted to apply for, buying felt like the right fit. Within the industry, buying sits between the creative and operational. I was able to utilise my years of experience on the floor with a wealth of knowledge of fit, fabric and styling combined with my analytical business brain. I was selected for an internship in the buying and merchandising team at the Jimmy Choo HQ in London. I [had] worked on the floor at a Jimmy Choo store in Melbourne and I believe that’s what gave me an edge over other applicants and made me stand out. That’s how my buying journey began. I literally started in the most junior role available and worked my way up.
What challenges/hurdles have you faced getting to where you are now? Can you tell us about one in particular?
When I moved home to Melbourne post-London I started working as a buyer’s assistant in fast fashion. There then came [an] opportunity to move into a product development role and I put my hand up for the job. I think I already knew this wasn’t the right role for me but it was a highly coveted job in the business and I jumped at the opportunity. To be honest, I wasn’t a great product development assistant. I didn’t have the right background and I lacked a lot of technical skills that the role required. I just didn’t have the patience for it and I really struggled.
I had to either give up or turn my mindset around and give it everything I had. Because I knew it was important to gain the experience, I worked extra hard to educate myself to better apply myself to the role in things like garment construction and fittings. It was a big hurdle for me to overcome but truly the technical knowledge I gained with that experience has helped me immeasurably.
What do you want people to know about your industry/your role?
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I’m terms of my role, I think that many are under the illusion that I just shop for a living. But being a buyer involves a lot more than selecting products in a showroom. A lot of what we do is very data-driven and involves a whole lot of planning, numbers and spreadsheets. You do also have to develop a strong eye and trust yourself to back the next big thing.
What’s the best part about your role?
At the level of fashion I work in, the best part for me is having insider access to the best fashion has to offer. I love knowing in advance what the market is going to obsess over. I have also had many pinch-me moments that have felt incredibly surreal (and still do!). Sitting along a runway in Paris or Milan among legends will never, ever get old.
What would surprise people about your role?
How unglamorous it can be. Don’t get me wrong, there are fashion shows and parties with celebrities and all the wonderful things that happen during fashion weeks, however, before travelling we spend months analysing numbers and sales and planning and forecasting ahead.
There is a lot of travel involved and we live out of a suitcase for weeks at a time. When we travel our schedule is jam-packed. We can have up to eight appointments a day and when the day is done it’s often room service and quantifying orders into the early hours of the morning. I have declined many invitations to parties and fashion shows in lieu of deadlines – the work comes first. Always being on the road also means missing out [on] things at home which can be really tough.
What skills have served you well in your industry?
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Being a good buyer is having the ability to step into a different mindset when selecting [a] product. You’re not going to love every item or brand but you’re not buying for yourself – it can’t be personal. When you’re working in a multi-brand environment this is an especially important skill to have. Being a strong negotiator is also essential. You’re constantly working on the best margins possible and having the ability to bring costs down is everything in this role.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to be in a role like yours one day?
I think the most important thing to note is that although global, the fashion industry is very small, especially within the luxury sector. Relationships are everything and building your network is key. You have no idea where the people you meet will end up so it is incredibly important not to burn any bridges.
What about a practical tip?
Being a buyer is a very coveted role and when I am interviewing candidates, I always look for wide experience in different areas of fashion. Immerse yourself in anything and everything and develop your own personal sense of style. There are so many roads you can take that will give you the skills that you need to become a buyer. Take my own journey, for example. Don’t be afraid to go outside your comfort zone, especially when it comes to a job in fashion. Live, eat and breathe it!
Read the rest of the How I Got Here series here.
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