Trevor A. Speight
Fashion Buyer, Women's Contemporary
New York, NY · (212) 555 0134 · name@example.com · linkedin.com/in/trevoraspeight
Key Qualifications
EXPERIENCE
Nine years in apparel buying, four of them owning a department plan end to end
INDUSTRIES
Department store retail, contemporary and designer womenswear
SPECIALTIES
Assortment architecture, open to buy management, market week strategy, markdown cadence
SYSTEMS
Oracle Retail Merchandising, NuOrder, Blue Yonder, Microsoft Excel, Tableau
CREDENTIALS
Certified Professional in Supply Management, Institute for Supply Management
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science in fashion merchandising, Syracuse University
Results at a Glance
19%
One year
14
Core resources
82%
Full price
Executive Summary
Fashion buyer with nine years in contemporary womenswear, owning a 26 million dollar sportswear book across 48 doors and the ecommerce channel. Builds the seasonal assortment from market week appointments through markdown, protects initial markup in vendor negotiations, and reads sell through weekly to chase what is working.
Signature Achievements
- Raised gross margin return on investment in contemporary sportswear from 2.1 to 2.8 over five seasons while holding sales flat to last year.
- Grew the dress classification 19 percent in one year by rebalancing open to buy away from novelty tops toward wear to work silhouettes.
- Negotiated markdown allowances and freight terms with 14 core resources, recovering 620 thousand dollars of margin in a single fall season.
- Cut season ending clearance exposure by a quarter after moving eight proven bodies onto a four week reorder cadence.
- Launched an exclusive capsule with an emerging designer that sold through 82 percent at full price in eight weeks.
Professional Experience
Fashion Buyer, Women's Contemporary
Cavanagh's Department Stores, New York, NY 2022 to present
Owns a 26 million dollar contemporary sportswear book across 48 doors and ecommerce, working with one associate buyer and a dedicated planner.
- Writes the seasonal assortment plan by door cluster so flagship locations carry the full designer depth while suburban doors hold the core size curve.
- Reviews open to buy every month with planning and holds back roughly 15 percent of receipts so best sellers can be chased in season.
- Attends New York and Los Angeles market weeks, writes orders in NuOrder, and negotiates first cost, delivery windows and return to vendor terms.
- Runs quarterly vendor reviews on sell through, fill rate and quality claims, and issues chargebacks where late shipments miss a floor set.
Associate Fashion Buyer, Women's Apparel
Sutter Lane Retail Group, New York, NY 2019 to 2022
Supported a 40 million dollar women's division across three classifications for a specialty chain of 90 stores.
- Built and maintained the seasonal line list, tracking style, color, cost and retail against the planned initial markup.
- Prepared weekly selling recaps that flagged slow styles at week four so markdowns were taken while units still had value.
Assistant Buyer
Vermillion Street Apparel, New York, NY 2017 to 2019
Assisted two buyers on a junior denim and knitwear business for a regional apparel chain.
- Wrote purchase orders, chased late shipments and resolved receiving discrepancies.
- Maintained the size and color curve files behind initial store allocation.
Licensure and Certification
Certified Professional in Supply Management, Institute for Supply Management
Member, National Retail Federation
Education
Bachelor of Science in fashion merchandising, Syracuse University, 2017
Core Skills
Open to buy management · Assortment architecture · Vendor negotiation · Markdown strategy · Sell through analysis · Market week planning · Initial markup planning · Oracle Retail Merchandising · NuOrder · Microsoft Excel modeling