What does a buyer think about during Fashion Week? As told by Sophie Jordan, MW Buying Director for Mytheresa

Influencers, editors, content creators, journalists, social media managers and videomakers, photographers, makeup artists, and styling assistants. During fashion month, the entire fashion industry gathers under one big roof, ready to tell stories or discover the latest seasonal trends. Among the front-row audience at the fashion shows, however, there's a profession that often goes unnoticed when thinking of fashion industry insiders: the buyer. As experts in commerce and trends with a sharp eye, capable of spotting social and stylistic movements even before they emerge beyond the runways, buyers handle the purchase of clothing, accessories, and other items on behalf of companies and stores. Their role is crucial in the vast and complex organism that is fashion, especially now that consumers' desires and needs are undergoing drastic changes. Identifying the key products of a season, determining which styles, silhouettes, and items will define a historical period is not something just anyone can do, and it should not be underestimated, as it can establish the identity and commercial success of an entire brand. In Milan and Paris, we had a chat with Sophie Jordan, MW Buying Director for Mytheresa, who revealed what goes through a buyer's mind between one show and another. As Jordan points out, one of the common misconceptions about buyers is that they purchase based on their personal taste, but nothing could be further from the truth. «You need to make sure that you're staying true to the brand and to your customer», the expert tells us as we exit the venue of the Dries Van Noten show.

The Mytheresa team prepares the budget for purchases at Paris Fashion Week two months in advance, «so that by the time we get there, we are just ready», adds Jordan. «We know what we are doing, but it's ever changing: once we're in the showrooms, budgets can go up and come back down». To do this job, explains the Buying Director of Mytheresa, you need specific qualities from different spheres, from commercial instinct to creativity. «Trend forecasting and instinct really go hand in hand for us. We tend to get a bit of a feeling of what's going to be coming for next season based on the previous one - there's always micro trends that you feel are going to get bigger», Jordan reveals. But you shouldn't be guided only by the artistic expression of the collections: data also matters. «We have sales data for all of our top line planning, and then we really deep dive into it when we're looking at really fast sellers to make sure that we're getting the very full potential». After these brief insights into the complicated and fascinating world of buying, we dove together with Jordan into the most interesting collections of the latest season.

The Auralee shows always stand out for their quality and precision, notes the buyer after the show. «One of the reasons for their success», especially as emerging brands, «is that they've really taken their time, they've honed their aesthetic and really focused on fit and fabrications». Additionally, the expert adds, they know their customers well. Similarly, Jordan observes that the collections of Dries Van Noten – including the first under the creative direction of Julian Klausner presented this month – maintain a strong legacy, based on clear concepts that never go out of style. «I think Dries Van Noten stands for individuality, embracing who you want to be and colour. Everyone talks about colour therapy as a trend, and I think Dries is the perfect brand for that». Jordan sees the same passion for color research and shape study in Klausner’s new work, a detail that did not go unnoticed by the more observant buyers this fashion month. «For the most avant-garde and extreme pieces, we really do see a direct link between the most hyped up pieces on the runway and what's getting the most coverage on social», Jordan concludes. «Those tend to be the pieces that the customer demands the most». In short, according to the expert’s forecasts, summer 2026 will be marked by colour therapy and the brightest it-items.