What Are The Departments Inside A Fashion Company/Brand?

Are you passionate about fashion but feeling lost when it comes to understanding what are the different departments inside a fashion company and therefore what career options you have? Trust me, I’ve been there too. Upon graduating when I decided to start my career journey in fashion I found myself scratching my head, trying to figure out which fashion job would suit me best. It seemed like the only roles people talked about were the obvious ones like designer and stylist. But deep down, I knew there had to be more roles and departments to running a fashion business. That’s when I decided to create Glam Observer in 2014, the very platform you’re reading right now.

My mission? To bring clarity to the confusion and offer a helping hand to all of you who share my passion for fashion. Having worked with renowned fashion houses like Alexander McQueen, Yoox-Net-A-Porter, and Kering, I’ve gained a treasure trove of insider secrets about what the industry truly looks for when hiring, and how things operate behind the scenes. 

In this article, I’ll guide you through the various departments inside a fashion company. If you’re dreaming of a career in fashion but aren’t quite sure which department suits you best or you just want to have a better understanding of the industry, get comfy cause we will chat about everything you need to know.

 What Are The Departments Inside A Fashion Company/Brand

Before we dive into the exciting world of fashion company departments, it’s essential to keep in mind that each company has its unique structure, with varying departments and roles. So, the departments we’ll explore below aren’t set in stone. Smaller brands, startups, and different companies might have different structures, which could be more complex or streamlined. However, I’ll do my best to cover the departments commonly found in luxury brands, drawing from my experience working with esteemed fashion and luxury companies. So, let’s take a friendly stroll through the fashion industry and explore the departments that typically shape its fascinating landscape! In my the book Your Fashion Dream Plan, there is also a chapter on careers in the fashion industry if you are interested in learning more.

1. The Fashion Design Department

Let’s begin with the department you might be familiar with. You are probably familiar with the role of the designers in fashion, well they do work in the design department on developing creative concepts and themes for each collection. They conduct research, gather inspiration, and create mood boards to establish the overall aesthetic and direction of the brand. They then create detailed sketches and technical drawings of garments, accessories, and other fashion items. The fashion design department selects the appropriate fabrics, materials, and trims for each design, and create the pieces on a sewing machine or by hand.

The Fashion Design Department collaborates with pattern makers (we will explain this role in the next paragraphs) to translate the design sketches into patterns, which serve as the blueprint for creating garments. Fashion designers in the department participate in fittings and work closely with tailors and dressmakers to ensure that the garments fit properly and align with the original design. They make necessary adjustments to achieve the desired fit and silhouette. 

There are multiple designers working at a fashion house in the design team.

Even though you might recognize Pierpaolo Piccioli as the Creative Director of Valentino, or Maria Grazia Chiuri as the creative director of DIOR, they are not the only ones who design the pieces of the collection. The creative director gives the general artistic direction for a brand to take, but there is an entire team of designers assisting them in the creation of the different product categories: womenswear, menswear, shoes, jewelry, accessories, etc. So if you want to work as a fashion designer you don’t necessarily need to become the creative director of a brand; you could do so by joining the design team. If you are someone who has always dreamed about sketching collections, then this is your choice.

2. Product Development

The product development department manages as per the title, the development of the specific product category (accessories, women’s, shoes…) from conceptual design, sample mock-up, and interaction with suppliers and other departments, to final production processes. 

The product developer works with manufacturers by monitoring supplier performance and delivery schedules, negotiates prices, and analyzes product costs. They also work with internal and external designers for quality control and design modification, recommending them manufacturing techniques, construction, and materials to reduce price and/or improve manufacturability while maintaining design and quality and managing the prototyping and sampling phases.

3. Production and Manufacturing

Modellista (from italian) or CAD Industrialization Specialist or Pattern Maker: there are specific people inside fashion who take the drawings and sketches of the design team and make sure to transform them into tangible garments, bridging the gap between imagination and practicality. Essentially, they turn illustrations into tech drawings so that they become feasible and that it is possible to actually produce them. Starting from the drawings of the style office, professionals of the production department evaluate all types of constructions, production processes, and materials applied, developing the models on the shape and creating the CAD paper patterns following the instructions for the correct production of the product. Pattern makers also anticipate the problems of product industrialization and identify the most suitable processing methods, collaborate with the product development team, and prototype to collect all the information needed to create a finished product.

4. Merchandising and Buying Department

If you are looking for a role that mixes management (80%) and creativity (20%) and you consider yourself a person who loves numbers and strategies, then this could be the department of your dreams. Tasked with managing the intersection of creativity, market trends, and consumer demands, this fashion department plays a critical role in ensuring the right products are available at the right time and in the right quantities. The merchandising and buying department serves as a bridge between creative design and commercial success in the fashion industry. By carefully curating product assortments, managing supplier relationships, optimizing inventory, and implementing effective pricing and promotion strategies, they contribute significantly to a fashion company’s overall performance. 

The role of the Retail Merchandiser and the Buyer is quite similar in fashion, that’s why I always recommend reading job descriptions carefully before applying. Just know that if you are interested in buying you can take a look at merchandising jobs and vice-versa. 

The responsibilities of a merchandiser have different shades.

Some might be more focused on the collection (collection merchandisers) and others might be more focused on the retail (retail merchandisers) who work at department stores. The job of a retail merchandiser is similar to the buyer. The responsibilities really change from one company to the other so I always recommend reading carefully the job description to see precisely what in that brand the responsibilities are in the specific fashion company.

At the heart of the merchandising and buying department’s responsibilities lie assortment planning and product selection. By closely monitoring market trends, analyzing sales data, and understanding customer preferences, the department works collaboratively with the design and production teams to curate a compelling range of products. The buying aspect of the department involves building and maintaining relationships with suppliers and manufacturers. They also negotiate pricing, terms, and delivery schedules, ensuring that the company secures the best deals without compromising on quality. 

Efficient inventory management is crucial for the profitability and success of a fashion company. The merchandising and buying department closely monitors inventory levels, sales performance, and market demand to make informed decisions about stock replenishment and allocation. 

A merchandiser is not to be confused with the visual merchandiser who instead works in stores or department stores deciding how each product is displayed in-store and in the windows to maximize sales.

5. Styling Department

You might be familiar with celebrity stylists who work on the looks of influential people for red carpets and events, but if you are interested in this role, know that even inside fashion brands there are in-house stylists. Stylists working at a fashion brand use their skills to style products and create visually appealing compositions that highlight the key features of the products and communicate the brand’s style and identity to make them more appealing to the customers. They build up the looks for marketing materials (such as lookbooks and catalogs), social media campaigns as well as e-commerce. 

The styling team works also with the creative director to style the fashion show. They select and style the garments, accessories, and footwear for each model, taking into account the collection’s theme, color palette, and overall aesthetic. There are also stylists who work in fashion magazines. They are called “editorial stylists” and mostly help style looks for photoshoots. 

Stylists can work in-house for a brand or a magazine, or as freelancers.

6. Photography, graphic design, art direction

Fashion is communicated mainly through visuals. Images are key in this industry, so that’s why there is an entire photography, graphic, and art department inside a fashion brand. Even though they might work with freelancers for each specific campaign and project, there can also be in-house teams of photographers, art directors, and graphic designers.

The photographer plans and executes photoshoots for various purposes, such as product campaigns, lookbooks, editorials, and advertising materials. They work closely with the styling department, models, and creative teams to bring the brand’s vision to life through visual storytelling. They take care of post-production editing as well using software tools like Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom to refine the images and achieve the desired look.

The graphic designer in a fashion house is responsible for creating visual assets and materials that communicate the brand’s identity, marketing messages, and promotional materials.

The art director in a fashion house is responsible for overseeing the creative direction and visual aesthetics of the brand. They play a crucial role in ensuring that the brand’s creative vision is consistent across all visual aspects. Art directors collaborate with and coordinate with the creative teams, including photographers, stylists, and graphic designers, to develop visual concepts and creative strategies for campaigns, editorials, and other brand visuals. 

7. PR, Marketing, digital, social media

As you might imagine, inside a fashion brand there is the marketing and communication department where many different people work together on marketing and promotional activities across all channels: offline, social media, emails, newsletters, eCommerce… to build brand awareness with the final goal of driving sales. The marketing team also manages season launches, store openings, and events. 

There are many people working on the different channels and with more specific responsibilities, for example, social media and digital teams who manage and implement social media strategies, influencer managers who build relationships with influencers, CRM managers who manage the client relationships, copywriters who are responsible for developing and editing content for the website, video, visual campaigns, emails, social media, and so on. 

I’ve published another article focused on fashion marketing jobs, jobs in fashion communication, and the role of the fashion PR  if you want to learn more about these careers. 

8. E-commerce Department

Almost all fashion brands sell online nowadays and so every fashion company has an entire department with eCommerce managers and specialists who take care of online sales: from online merchandisers and buyers to digital and online marketing managers, customer care teams, and those who update the website and product selections.

The e-commerce department holds a special place in my heart as it was where I got started in the fashion industry. I started as an ecommerce intern at Alexander McQueen and despite I was “just” an intern, already from day 1 I was taking care of analyzing sales, setting up the online merchandising, uploading the fashion show video on the website during fashion week, running day-to-day tasks to make sure the shopping experience was perfect, sending out the weekly newsletter, activating sales and much more. It was my ideal role as it was an intersection of fashion + the new digital platforms + analysis, which were my three passions. 

9. Sustainability Department

As more and more companies are looking for ways to become more sustainable both in terms of raw materials used and in terms of production reducing emissions, they are creating more and more jobs in fashion sustainability. Sustainability managers work closely with the Design and Sourcing teams, and Product Development teams to ensure they are respecting sustainability policies and standards. They ideate sustainability strategies and monitor the progress the company is making towards being more sustainable. Read more about sustainable fashion jobs here.

10. Supply Chain Department

The Supply Chain Department plays a crucial role in ensuring the smooth and efficient flow of products throughout the supply chain. This fashion department is responsible for identifying and managing suppliers for materials, fabrics, trims, and other components required for fashion production. They monitor supplier performance to ensure timely and quality deliveries, coordinate the transportation of raw materials, semi-finished goods, and finished products throughout the supply chain, and manage the warehousing and distribution of fashion products. The Supply Chain department also oversees the storage and organization of inventory in warehouses and implements quality control processes, conducts inspections, and works closely with suppliers and manufacturers to address any quality issues or non-compliance with regulations.

11. Legal and Finance Department

Like I said in the beginning, not everyone in fashion works with clothes. Inside a fashion company, there are also people who take care of its legal and financial aspects to ensure that the business is running well. 

Fashion companies often rely on trademarks, copyrights, and patents to safeguard their brand, designs, and creative assets. The legal team is responsible for managing intellectual property registrations, monitoring infringement, and taking necessary legal action to protect the company’s intellectual property rights. The legal team handles also the drafting, review, and negotiation of various contracts and agreements, including vendor contracts, licensing agreements, distribution agreements, and employment contracts. They ensure that these legal documents protect the company’s interests and comply with applicable laws and regulations.

The finance team is responsible for financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting. They collaborate with various departments to develop financial strategies, set performance targets, and monitor financial performance against goals. They analyze financial data and provide insights to support decision-making and maximize profitability.

12. Human Resources

Like in any other company, there is a specific department that takes care of hiring people for the company. The Human Resources Department takes care of the selection process, from posting job offers to revising resumes, conducting job interviews, and making hiring decisions. 

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