Maternity Buyer Job Description for the fashion industry

Fashion Jobs

Maternity Buyer

Find a good job as a Maternity Buyer

Is it time for you to nurture a change in your career?  Perhaps you have experience in a senior purchasing position or as a junior buyer, and would like to take the leap into maternity wear?

A career as a maternity buyer is more exciting than it might first seem.  The days of bow-bestowed frocks, arrows on the belly, and tents over leggings are mostly behind us. Modern women do not stop being feminine and sexy just because they are with child, and most designers and retailers are aware of the social and cultural shift in favor of expectant mothers.  The fashion industry has responded to the call, and pregnant women can now purchase everything from maternity lingerie (even thong panties!) to sexy tops, stylish suits, and figure-hugging dresses to flatter their bumps.  Even post-pregnancy items, like breastfeeding shirts, have improved immensely.

As a maternity buyer, you will keep an eye to the fashion trends of parents who are expecting a child or who have just been blessed with one.  Knowing your clients demographic needs will help a lot.  Maternity trends vary quite a bit by climate -- obviously a clingy camisole-style tank or maternity shorts will not play well in the northern United States -- and by socially accepted norms of each region.  For example, the maternity wear of women in the South is likely to be quite a bit more conservative than that of women in say, Los Angeles.  And clients located in more rural areas will have customers with far different clothing needs than a career woman in a city like Manhattan.

Before you decide to tackle a new role as a maternity buyer, consider these two questions:

Do you play well with others?

Can you nurture a team?   

Let us explain

Do you play well with others translates to this -- can you work within the framework of your organization to accomplish your departmental goals?  An organization functions much like a family in that each member/department has individual goals and needs, and that miscommunication of these goals and needs can result in dysfunction.  You will work with your merchandising team to create plans that will maximize profitability for your company.  You will follow products from concept to placement in stores, and in the process, communicate with suppliers all over the world.  It will be on you to communicate design and marketing vision to both your superiors, other departments, and ultimately to your clients.  You may work with designers and technicians in the early stages of product development, if that is a function of your company.  And you will communicate all of the above to your team, as well.

Can you nurture a team?

Of course you can!  To do so successfully, you must possess the willingness to foster success traits in your team. You will foster the professional development of your junior buyers and buyer's administrators.  Instilling strong communication, organization, and analytical skills, and encouraging innovation and initiative, in your team members will ultimately be a reflection on you and a boon to your company.  With effort, you and your team can become peas in a purchasing pod.

Negotiation, presentation, organization, and communication are just some of the skills you must possess as a maternity buyer.  It will take grace under pressure to carry a heavy workload on a tight time schedule.  You must be willing to balance the needs of your clients and the end consumer in regard to quality, delivery and price. (There is as wide a range of pricing in maternity wear as there are demographic variations.)

With proper preparation, you can give birth to a career as a maternity buyer.  You may find that, like parenting, the journey is not without its struggles, but comes rather naturally!

Find a good job as a Maternity Buyer

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