The Clothes Show was not something I had heard of before I arrived at university. I attended the huge shopping event for the first time during my first year as part of the fashion society. I didn't quite know what to expect but I was definitely overwhelmed by the number of people that had descended upon the NEC! The lesson I learnt was never return on a Saturday...it is worse than sale shopping after Christmas!
I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to work at the Clothes Show this year with fashion distributors 1927 Ltd who have a large stand each year for selling Juicy Couture. Due to university deadlines, I was able to work four out of the possible seven day. It was brilliant to experience the Clothes Show from a different perspective; a seller as opposed to a buyer. Along with other employees from 1927 Ltd we were all put up in a hotel which served the most amazing and longed-for carvery at the end of each tiring day plus plenty of drinks for team bonding!
The first day involved quite a lot of waiting around as the stall was still being painted and having its fixtures fitted. Once this was completed we had the arduous task of unpacking all the stock and visual merchandising. This year Juicy Couture was selling their infamous velour tracksuits alongside t-shirts, cashmere, dresses, bags, accessories and jewellery.
I had been warned previously about how busy it would get on the Juicy stand but I certainly did not expect the stampede of screaming teenage girls and their mothers as soon as the doors opened. As a result of events from the previous year, a separate security team was hired to help crowd control. Additionally we had metal railings around the entire stand to maintain the crowds.
The roles that I generally undertook during the day including replenishing stock, processing sales and unpacking back-up stock. It was an insight into how these events are co-ordinated and also a chance to see what working in a clothes shop might entail different from my shoe shop experience at Dune. It would definitely an experience which I would be happy to repeat.
