Textile & Apparel Sourcing

Based at Hangzhou, China.Supplying Apparel & Textiles to major apparel brands in Europe & USA.Strength in textile area gives competitive edge to our apparel customers with latest trends & quick turnarounds for fast fashion.We present seasonal collections of both Textile & Apparel to our customers based on international fashion direction & trends.Our focus is to offer fashion at right price & on time performance to enable superior supply chain management.

• Heading a team of associates comprising of Development & Merchandise Managers, Material Managers, Planning Manager & Production & QA Managers, guiding them with weekly priorities and planning set in clear tones & expectations to have good control in meeting the desired target of Gross margins and delivery deadlines in alignment with the company strategy and direction.• Vendor Strategy (Sourcing & Development) 1. Competitive pricing. 2. Production capacity built up in alignment with the business volumes forecasted as per the Strategic Business Plan (SBP). 3. Vendor growth plans basis their KPI assessment, category specific capability growth and technical up-gradation.• Product Sourcing - developing / sourcing of present new collection as per the existing trends is one of the important operation to expand business, and make the customer (Sales n Buyers team) understand and identify trends. • Service to customer - One of the most important factor in today’s competitive business environment is to provide the customer with the sharper lead-times and minimum quantities.Customers Managed : Promod (France), Zara (Spain), Pull & Bear (France), River Island (U.K.), Pimkie (Gremany), Dorothy Perkins (U.K.)

Joined as merchant managing Ann Taylor Stores (Woven Tops). Thereafter moved to Ann Taylor Loft (Casual Bottoms), later was made Group Leader managing Loft (Casual Bottoms, Refined & Relaxed Separates and Dresses). And the last year & a half of my association was managing Ann Taylor Factory Stores Dept as Team Leader• Handling merchandising & product development .• Fabric & trim research - Involves working on indications received by buyer & also providing the newest ideas for the upcoming season.• Market research- Preparing the collection as per the mood board and ideas /themes requested by buyers.• Product Development- working with team on development packages received -which included Style analysis / Style allocation to vendor/Product pricing & confirmation/ Making of fit proto to meet with technician in Fit/Quality team on the Size Sets & Pilot.• Product presentation to customers based on seasonal trends.• Frequent visits to customers & vendors within India to manage & develop business.

• Handling merchandising & product development.• Costing.• Vendor Allocation.• Time & Action Calendar management• Daily communication with customers & vendors with timely alerts & updates towards smooth execution of the orders.Customers Managed : worked with World Wide Apparel Resources, U.S.A. for their customers. i.e. Target, Walmart, Shopko, Caldor, Ames, U.S. Army, No Excuses.

Started working part time as intern in 1993 during last year of my AMM Diploma course & started working full time from 1994. Initially learnt the ropes working in all departments. i.e. production, quality, fabric, trims, stores & later merchandising & by the end of my association I was responsible for following…• Responsible for overall decision making with respect to order booking, presentation of collection, negotiating prices and delivery schedules.• Advice cost saving alternatives and solutions at product development stage and related production issues.• Responsible for effective production capacity planning. • Fabric and trim sourcing. • Ensuring smooth functioning of the division and supervising daily co-ordination and communication activities.• Supervise and coordinate with production, shipping and quality control associates.Customers Managed : Liaison with buying houses Li&Fung, Taffles, Bararas House, OTTO for customers such as Kiabi (France), Galleries Lafayette (France), Postal Market (Italy), Spot (France), Farmers (New Zealand).