The Product Development Process: From Research and Design to Launch for SS22 Babywear at Next

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The Product Development Process: From Research and Design to Launch for SS22 Babywear at Next MA Fashion Management with Marketing FSHN5117 Reflective Portfolio Libby Maskery

Figure 1: Proposed Babywear SS22 Range for Next (Maskery, 2021)

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Contents 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 2. The Buying Cycle ......................................................................................................... 3 3. Range Review ................................................................................................................ 3 4. Research ........................................................................................................................ 4 4.1 Trend Inspiration ................................................................................................... 4 4.2 Market Research ................................................................................................... 6 4.3 Comparative Shopping Analysis .......................................................................... 7 4.4 Directional Shopping Analysis ............................................................................. 8 4.5 Corporate Strategy ............................................................................................... 9 4.6 Consumer Research ............................................................................................ 10 5. Range Planning .......................................................................................................... 10 6. Pricing Architecture ................................................................................................. 11 7. Sourcing Strategy ...................................................................................................... 14 8. Costing and Negotiation .......................................................................................... 15 9. Range Development ................................................................................................. 16 10. Garment Technology and Fittings ........................................................................... 17 11. Fabric Technology ..................................................................................................... 18 12. Critical Path Management ....................................................................................... 18 13. Reflective Note .......................................................................................................... 19 14. Figure List .................................................................................................................. 20 15. Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 22

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1. Introduction This portfolio is a reflective look at the process of building a babywear range from concept to launch for the high street retailer, Next. It will take a babywear range, proposed for SS22, through the development stages, an area of interest fuelled by the childrenswear category not being as badly impacted as women and menswear by the pandemic as purchasing is driven by replacement (Sender Ceron, 2021). The range will be taken through the process of the buying cycle: Range review, Research and Planning, Range Development, Sourcing and Negotiation, Range Finalisation, Manufacturing, Distribution and Launch (Boardman, 2020).

Each section of the report will explain the process of each individual stage and then apply this knowledge directly to this proposed babywear range, stating what would be suitable for Next as a brand in particular. The report will focus predominantly on one style of baby grow from the range and will look at taking this particular garment through each stage of the buying cycle.

2. The Buying Cycle The buying cycle refers to the key processes that the fashion buyer is involved in order to buy a garment range for a retail store (Dillon, 2018). Although this process varies depending on each brand, it typically takes up to one year to go from reviewing the sales of the current season as it draws to an end and delivering next year’s range.

For a brand whose demographic is young, their cycle will be even quicker to respond to trends faster as their consumer values faster fashion than value. Next’s buying cycle will be longer as it’s a brand that doesn’t focus on fad fashion, where the ranges focus more on fashion and classic trends. As a brand, their market is catering for the masses not the opinion leaders or innovators. Due to this they adopt well-established trends, meaning the lead time of each garment can take longer. Having said that, buyers may keep 10-25% of the budget available to respond to trends quickly by purchasing hot items, known as open-tobuy (Dillon, 2018). The buying cycle is informed by research, to ensure it will be well received by the consumer, and by the merchandise plan, to ensure the profitability of the range.

3. Range Review The buying cycle starts with a range review where the buyers and merchandisers will analyse the previous season. The purpose of this is to ‘inform the planning process’ (Boardman, 2020). During this review, buyers and merchandisers will assess sales figures from the past season, what in particular sold well and what didn’t sell well (or at all) and reflect upon this so lessons are learnt and taken forward into the next season. This is also an opportunity for the buying and merchandising teams to reflect upon their actions in the process and see what worked well during the development of a product and evaluate timings and plans that were involved in the production of the ranges from the previous season, not just how the end range was consumed by the market. This means that any adjustments can be made to the process for a smoother or more efficient cycle.

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The post-mortem report is also produced where the buyers and merchandisers asses the performance of a product, range and category as well as noting the factors, both positive and negative, that influenced this success or lack of (Boardman, 2020). The post-mortem report will form the basis of decision making for the next season as it evaluates what went well and what needs improvement. Aspects that are included in the post-mortem report include: best and worst sellers, lessons learned, markdowns, margins, sell through rates, returns, net and gross sales, this year’s trading figures, last year’s trading figures and the year to date (Boardman, 2020).

From this analysis, the buyer can then see how their previous decisions were received by the market and where they potentially need to alter their approach to suit the needs of their consumer.

A buying and merchandise plan will be drawn up after the analysis of the previous season which plans the budget for the next season for the whole buying team which is then split across each buying department. The merchandiser and the buyer then work together to look at how the budget should be used to buy stock and make clear the margins that the products must make to ensure profit. The merchandise plan is the ‘intended stock and sales amount planned for a season’ (Boardman,2020).

4. Research Trend, market research and consumer research all influence the choices of the buying and merchandising teams in order to plan the next range. Buyers must conclude from the research how the consumer needs can be met by the new product range whilst also ensuring the new range would be in-keeping with brand values, mission and strategy; this informs the merchandise plan.

It is vital that the research is done thoroughly due to the industry’s fast paced and unpredictable nature. Although difficult to research something so unpredictable, by studying the brand, the current commercial climate and forecasts, buyers and merchandisers can make educated and informed choices.

4.1 Trend Inspiration Trend inspiration is the key first element to the design of a new range. It comes from but is not limited to exhibitions, galleries, art shows, magazines, interior design and architecture (Dillon, 2018). Trend boards will be compiled that contain fabric and colour inspiration surrounding a theme that visually communicates the brand’s intended statement. This information is then evaluated by buyers and designers.

Trend forecasting and prediction agencies work up to 18 months ahead of a season and can ensure that the consumer needs are being met and act as confirmation that the trends being adopted by a brand are in line with its target market in order to ensure the success of a range and therefore secure sales. Trend inspiration for the babywear range proposed in this report came from the leading trend analysis service WGSN (Worth Global Style Network) that have forecast a retro euphoria trend for Spring/Summer 22 for babywear. Figures 2 and

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3 are images from the WGSN report that gave inspiration for this babywear range for Next, focussing on colour palettes and reasoning behind the trend.

Figure 2: WGSN report used as trend inspiration for this range (Palmer, 2021)

Figure 3: WGSN colour palette from the Little Hippie SS22 design range (Palmer, 2021)

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After the COVID-19 pandemic, its predicted there will be an emphasis on uplifting colour palettes that bring the exuberant nostalgic feeling from the 70s. It’s a trend that has already begun to trickle into babywear so is one that was adopted when building this range. The colours aimed to be a little more gender neutral for some garments as this is something that has been suggested the consumer is looking for when they buy (Sender Ceron, 2021).

However, the choice was made to not make the entire range gender neutral as complete gender neutrality within ranges is not something frequently seen at Next, or indeed in the ranges of its competitors.

4.2 Market research Market research helps determine the brand’s positioning within the sector so that buyers can build ranges that suit their market. The success of a range is dependent on the amount of research that goes into its planning to ensure it meets consumer needs.

When building this range, the babywear buyer would look at the direct competitors and its arguable that they’d also look at the more budget retailers, especially for babywear over other categories as the consumer doesn’t want to spend excessively on babywear (Sender Ceron, 2021), they choose budget retailers over mid-market. So Next must look at product ranges of these retailers also. This perceptual map (figure 4) will help inform the Comparative Shop Analysis.

Figure 2: Perceptual Map of high street childrenswear retailers (Maskery, 2021)

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4.3 Comparative shopping Analysis Comparative shopping will involve buying teams taking trips to competitor stores to evaluate their ranges and see what trends they have adopted. They will also analyse their approach to sales and promotion to see if their own approaches align and to spot opportunities that competitors have missed or, indeed, see what competitors have done that they haven’t in order to rectify this omission in the future. It will involve assessing their own brand’s bestsellers and comparing them to competitor bestsellers for that season.

For a babywear buyer, it would be useful to see what fabrics, colourways and styles are trending but perhaps more significantly for this product category, it is more revealing to see competitor pricing architecture, especially for a mid-market retailer such as Next who are competing with brands offering cheaper alternatives. By seeing the prices of competitors, it allows next to stay relevant by adjusting their pricing strategy if necessary. Similarly, the babywear category often sees bundles and promotions such as 3 for 2 on garments, a strategy that competitor Marks and Spencer have recently adopted to appeal to their family consumer (Hughes, 2020). It’s arguable that instead of noticing trends, this observation from comparative shops would be more influential for the babywear category than it would be for womenswear categories etc. that need to be acutely sensitive to emerging trends.

For SS21, Next’s babywear range already features pieces that are reminiscent of 70s era as seen in figures 5,6,7 and 8. It’s not necessarily something that is so overtly seen in the other leading retailers. Figures 9, 10 and 11 show garments from Primark’s babywear range and show how they’re a lot more subtle in approach. The trend has been translated via materials such as corduroy and via the sunshine motif, but the trend has not been so obviously captured in the way Next has started to adopt it.

Figure 7: Detail of Next's print pattern, taken in store (Maskery, 2021)

Figure 5: Detail of Next's print pattern, taken in store (Maskery, 2021)

Figure 6: Next baby and toddler dress, taken from website (Next, 2021)

Figure 8: Detail of Next's print pattern, taken in store (Maskery, 2021)

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The comparative shop to inform this babywear range for Next would be more useful in terms of seeing different approaches from more budget retailers as customers of childrenswear have said that spending more money than necessary is futile given how quickly children grow out of clothes (Sender Ceron, 2021). By looking at the current stock of George, Primark and Next, certain observations and patterns were noticed. This included how many core basic bundles Primark stocked in comparison to Next, so the decision was made to make all the baby grows in the range part of bundles, also coinciding with Marks and Spencer’s new approach. It was also noted how Next stocked more fashion items, something that helped inform the range planning process.

Figure 9: Primark Babywear SS21, taken in store(Maskery, 2021)

Figure 12: George Babywear SS21 (George, 2021)

Figure 10: Primark Babywear SS21, taken Figure 11: Primark Babywear SS21, taken in store (Maskery, 2021) in store (Maskery, 2021)

Figure 13: George Babywear SS21 (George, 2021)

Figure 14: George Babywear SS21 (George, 2021)

4.4 Directional Shopping Analysis Directional shopping trips will be taken by the buyers depending on department budget. It is not uncommon for trips to be taken to cities such as London, Milan, New York and Paris to gain inspiration from catwalk shows and collections of high-end designers. This allows the buyers to see trends directly as they emerge and allows them to see how designers are approaching new seasons. They will notice any common themes, colours, patterns and styles, giving them an insight into what the consumer will want.

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For childrenswear, particularly babywear, there are fewer opportunities regarding approaching runways for inspiration. Due to this, the market is less influenced by trends so for the Next babywear buyer, directional shopping analysis may take the form of looking at aspirational peers.

The Next babywear buyer may look at other babywear boutiques and designers such as Stella McCartney (particularly for print and pattern inspiration) or Lapin House for inspiration in terms of style, colour and trend as they are higher end. This way, the buyer can see how the trend would trickle down to the high street in the same way the womenswear buyer would see how a trend has trickled down from the runway.

Figures 15 and 16 show garments priced at £50 (59 euros) and £39 that appear to have taken inspiration from similar trends that the SS22 Next babywear range adopts. The Next babywear buyer may take inspiration from garments such as these and blend this with inspiration from the WGSN report.

Figure 15: SS21 Bobo Choses (Bobo Choses, 2021)

Figure 16: Banabae SS21 babywear (Banabae, 2021)

4.5 Corporate Strategy Next’s corporate strategy must be considered when preparing to create a range. Through taking into consideration the mission and vision of the brand, the buyers will look at the brand’s corporate strategy, this will then directly influence the buying strategy. As Next’s mission is ‘to meet customer expectation by providing exciting, beautifully designed, excellent quality clothing, footwear, accessories and homeware’ (Next n.d.) an example buying strategy may be that ‘90% of garments bought have a quality rating (Acceptable Quality Level) of 5’ (Boardman, 2020). This is to coincide with the mission of being a reliable brand for quality clothing and to keep customer loyalty as this is what their consumer values. This will also lead to fewer returns and a higher customer satisfaction rate, all of which will culminate in a higher sales figure.

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4.6 Consumer research To ensure the success of a range, the buyers and merchandiser must stay up to date with he needs and wants of their consumer in order to stay relevant and drive brand loyalty. It is crucial that buyers stay commercially aware of both the industry and popular culture in general. They need to stay up to date with not only major trends but also the trends of smaller subcultures, which is obviously a rather large ask. Due to this, buyers need to be acutely sensitive to these smaller market segments in order to know what their specific consumer wants and what they are influenced by.

Mintel reports will help the buyer notice any shifts in buying habits. Some issues that the babywear buyer may face specifically is the increasing interest in gender neutral clothing from parents and also that there are multiple demographics buying childrenswear (grandparents, parents etc.). Childrenswear in general is one of the most complex buying areas but the least financially lucrative (Shaw, 2017) given that children all have different wardrobes and are not as easily influenced in fashion there are fewer overarching trends for each season. Similarly, the customer is the adult buying their clothes not the child themselves, therefore meaning the buyer needs to address trends influencing the adult’s buying habits. Perhaps the biggest challenge for the babywear buyer is to establish who their customer actually is for babywear, as with other product categories the customer is also the consumer so wants are arguably easier to establish. Reports have stated that there is a shift in buying habits of childrenswear yet ‘female customers are still the biggest buyers of babywear’ (Mintel 2021).

Next’s consumer specifically is focussed on purchasing higher quality items, and according to Shaw (2017) the value of a product is directly proportional to the relationship between quality and price, which is dubbed ‘the fashion buyer’s mantra’. This consumer research will be reflected in the pricing architecture and considered during the sourcing strategy.

5. Range Planning When building a range, the buyer must look at the key trends predicted for the season and identify how they can be adopted to suit the brands image in a way that appeals to the brand’s existing customer. With advice and financial guidance from the merchandising team, the buyer will need to consider materials, styles and colours that are appropriate as well as the number of products in the range, cost prices and selling prices, sizing and order quantity.

Once this has been done the pre-selection meeting takes place where the buying, merchandise and quality control team will review the samples.

Initially, this plan will assess appropriate garments that could be purchased within a set budget. It is important to note that buyers must see each product as a solution to a problem, this way each garment has purpose in the range. Clark (2015) states that ‘a product range must offer an easily understandable set of solutions, the sum of which equal or exceed the consumer’s identified need’. So ranges can be the solution to many of the consumer’s problems, the range needs to be diverse to satisfy multiple needs.

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One way of satisfying the needs of the consumer is by the fashionability of the range which are usually broken down into three categories: core basic, fashion and high fashion. For Next, this will align with their good better best strategy (see section 6 of report) for garments and ensures that a wide range of consumer’s needs are met. Figure 17 breaks down the fashionabilitiy attributes that the buyer will assess when building a diverse range.

Figure 17: Table of fashionability attributes (Clark, 2015)

6. Pricing Architecture A second way of satisfying consumer needs is by building a range based on pricing attributes which aims to diversify the range with a mix of price points (Clark 2015). In order to appeal to a wider market, a good pricing strategy to adopt is the ‘good-better-best’ approach where, typically, prices will directly correlate to the quality of the garment but means that there is a wider range available for the customer. Again, this comes back to the notion of the range offering the most solutions to the customer’s problems. Figure 18 breaks down this pricing strategy.

Figure 18: Table of Pricing attributes (Clark, 2015)

Figures 19, 20 and 21 show an example of Next’s G-B-B pricing architecture specifically for their own brand baby all-in-ones that aren’t sold as bundles. Figure 21 shows the highest priced product offered in the range at £16-£18. Figure 20 is priced at £10-£11 and figure 19 is priced at £6-£7. Below each image is a breakdown of how the quality of each garment is reflected in the pricing architecture

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Figure 19: Next SS21 Babywear (Good) (Next, 2021)

Figure 20: Next SS21 Babywear (Better) (Next, 2021)

Figure 21: Next SS21 Babywear (Best) (Next, 2021)

GOOD

BETTER

BEST

Price: £6-£7

Price: £10-£11

Price: £16-£18

Materials: 100% Cotton

Materials: 100% Cotton

Materials: 100% Organic Cotton

Style: Basic T Shirt Romper

Style: Romper with frill sleeve detailing

Style: Romper with collar, embroidery

Competitive pricing strategy to align with budget babywear retailers.

More focussed on design and trend than the cheaper garment- price reflects this.

Price reflects both the better quality and the directional product.

By having the Good Better Best tiered strategy, it encourages the customer to spend more.

If the better and best options are available, the good option feels inferior to the customer, it is a psychological marketing strategy that taps into the consumer’s wants, not necessarily their needs.

Alternatively, even if the customer is not persuaded to spend more on the better or best options, the retailer will still appeal to a wider market, catering for a wider range of budgets to increase sales.

This will affect the sourcing strategy for each garment as it will mean that the Good option will need to be sourced for a lower price than the Better and the Best options. Similarly, some countries would be more appropriate to source the Best option from as this is more embellished.

After looking at the comparitive shop, the decision for this range to include bundles was made. Next’s current G-B-B stragey for 3 pack rompers is Good costing £15-£17, Better costing £16-£18 and their Best costing £18-£20 (Next, n.d.), which is the pricing that has

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been decided for this range. Figure 22 explains how this knowledge has been applied in more depth.

Figure 22: Proposed babywear range GBB strategy (Maskery, 2021)

GOOD

BETTER

BEST

Price: £15-£17

Price: £16-£18

Price: £18-£20

Materials: 100% Cotton

Materials: 100% Cotton

Materials: 100% Organic Cotton

Style: Basic T Shirt Romper

Style: Romper with frill sleeve detailing

Style: Romper with more detailed print/dye, ringer detailing, placement print

Competitive pricing strategy to align with budget babywear retailers.

More focussed on design and trend than the cheaper garment- price reflects this.

Price reflects both the better quality and the directional product.

If this strategy is applied to the products that were proposed in this range, it can be seen how the different products reflect a more diverse price range. The Good option is inline with Next’s current option of t shirt rompers that keep it in line with retailers such as Primark and George who are more budget. The Better option in this range includes more design based elememnts whilst remaining competitivly priced and then the Best option in this babywear range includes garments that have more embellishements or more work in the production, for example embroidery or placement prints, piping, more advanced dying techniques and patterns.

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7. Sourcing Strategy Once the range has been decided, the buyers need to source the garments, deciding where would be most appropriate to source for each garment depending on where is best in terms of skills, lead time and cost (Boardman, 2020) all of which needs to coincide with the budget as laid out by the finance team that help guide the buyer to ensure a balanced range is also a profitable range (Clark, 2015) Buyers need to consider what is the best strategy, this may be direct, indirect, overseas or in the UK. For fast fashion brands, many of their garments will be sourced in the UK as there is a quicker turn around and cuts the cost of transport. For a brand such as Next, many of their garments will be sourced overseas. More basic garments could be sourced in Bangladesh, whilst more complex garments with more embellishment may be better suited to being sourced from Vietnam or Cambodia, particularly due to the nature of babywear including many press studs, buttons, zips or applique designs.

The indirect sourcing route is where the retailer will source through a UK agent who will liaise with their own factories. The advantage of this is that the buyer can brief a design and also choose to buy pre-designed garments that can be labelled and then owned by their brand. There is a lot more support and reassurance for the buyer that the range will be successful if this route is taken as there is guidance from the agent, however this comes at a cost as agents will usually charge around 7-10% commission.

If the buyer chooses to source directly, they will be able to save on the cost of sourcing as there is no agent. However, more pressure is added to the buyer as there is no direction in the design process and the buyer has to manage all orders and source manufacturers.

There is also the option of product selection where retailers stock the clothing of other brands, Next being a good example of this. However, the margin is lower for the buyer as these brands also need to make a profit.

Figure 23: Proposed babywear (Maskery, 2021)

Things that need to be sourced for this particular garment (figure 23) are the fabric, the printing, the piping, the press stud fastenings, the labelling and the packaging (hangers, tags etc).

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Whilst there are multiple sourcing options for this garment, a possible strategy for it could be sourcing from Bangladesh as they produce mainly clothes made from cotton. They produce more basic goods however this is changing to also include garments that are more embellished. For this reason, a garment such as a baby grow that has piping and a placement prints would be well suited to being sourced from this country. There is also a low labour cost and only 5% freight rate and 0% duty when sourcing from Bangladesh which will mean that there will be a larger margin and therefore profit for the brand.

When transporting the garment to the UK distribution office, the garments should be boxed and shipped, as this is cheaper and more sustainable than flying the garments to the UK. The garments will need to be labelled and ticketed using Next branding and also have branded hangers for when in display on the shop floor.

8. Costing and Negotiation

Figure 24 shows the potential costing of this particular baby grow. The baby grow bundle would sell for £18-£20 under the proposed pricing architecture, so for the purposes of this example, the costing chart assumes the selling price would be £20 for the 3 baby grows, therefore the selling price for one baby grow within the bundle would be £6.67.

Figure 24: Proposed costing chart for the baby grow (Maskery, 2021)

The chart shows the margin of the product itself, it does not include the labour cost, labelling, packaging and transport, delivery and insurance costs all of which will obviously increase the price and decrease the margin. Equally, the chart assumes it would take a full metre of fabric to make the baby grow hence why the costing sheet is an estimate.

If the buyer is not satisfied with this margin, they will negotiate with the manufacturer on the cost of producing the garment. Possible things that the buyer could negotiate on are ordering a larger quantity in order for the price to decrease, ordering repeats, being loyal to

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that manufacturer and the production time. Negotiation must be done respectfully as it’s important that the buyer builds a good relationship with the supplier; the key to success in fashion business is having a trusting relationship with the right suppliers (Grose, 2012).

9. Range Development Range development involves building the sample range. Designs are communicated through line drawings and technical specification sheets (Dillon, 2018) that are drawn up by the retailer’s design team. This is where colour or fabric changes are made alongside developing trim and sizing, which is usually communicated to the manufacturer via the buyer. Once the sample range has been drawn up, it is then further developed and every sample needs approving by the appropriate buying team in order to for the process to progress. Once the manufacturer has received the technical specification sheet, they can make the garment pattern and sample, using a length of fabric given to them by the retailer, the manufacturer focuses solely on making the sample garment following the specification sheet in a process known as cut, make and trim (Dillon, 2018).

Figure 25 shows a proposed specification sheet for the baby grow from the proposed SS22 range which shows the fitting and sizing required for the sample.

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Figure 35: Example Technical specification sheet (Maskery, 2021)

10. Garment Technology and Fittings It is vital to the brand that the garment’s sizing is accurate to reduce the number of returns from the customer. During this stage of the process, the garment is reviewed on how it looks on a body, as well as ensuring that the garment is fit for purpose (Goworek, 2007).

For babywear specifically, the garment’s ease of use is very important, this means that the baby grow should be easy to get on and off, comfortable for the baby and also be convenient for the parent to be able to change the baby.

For this specific garment, particular tests must be undertaken to ensure that the garment is fit, and most importantly safe, to be sold.

Colour fastness to washing, water and rubbing must be assessed to make sure the colours do not transfer, especially from the orange fabric into the white piping when being washed.

More test that are related to the washing of a garment are the dimensional stability to washing test, the spirality test and testing how the garment appears after washing. The baby

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grow is also made of cotton and will be soft so pilling tests will check to see how the garment deals with friction. More health and safety tests must be done, chemical testing and pH level testing must be undertaken as well as testing the flammability of the garment. The garment also features a placement print which must pass print durability tests and also be tested for phthalates.

Perhaps something that is even more important in babywear than in adult clothes is the comfort of the garment. According to Hu (2008), there is thermal comfort, tactile and pressure comfort and psychological comfort which all combine to form sensory comfort. As babies are very intolerant to discomfort, their clothes must be tested thoroughly to ensure customer satisfaction.

11. Fabric Technology Fabric technology must be taken into account during the product development process. For this baby grow, the buyer will request for it to be dyed a specific shade of orange and the manufacturer will dye the swatch that shade, it is then the buyer’s job to look at this lab dip and compare it to the original swatch of the requested colour. If it is the same in all lights, the buyer will approve it. This is done as the dyes will show up differently on different fabrics to the Pantone colour swatch and can alter how the human eyes perceives the shade.

This is also important to maintain consistency across a range with a specific colour palette where different materials may be used, the same shade of orange is seen on other garments in the range, so it is important that they all look coordinated.

This is even more important if the buyer is sourcing different garments from the same range from different countries. The lab dip needs a specific reference code that can be sent to all suppliers to maintain consistency across different factories. It is a time-consuming process but one that is vital to the accuracy of product development and the buyer must take into account the lead times involved in both the process and the sourcing from different global suppliers (Jackson and Shaw, 2001). The lead time being the amount of time of planning, purchasing and production processes before the item is available for customers to buy (Granger, 2015).

12. Critical Path Management The critical path is the timeline that it takes to get the product through development and manufacturing, with specific dates and deadlines for each stage of the process. It is vital that the critical path is monitored in order to ensure products are ready to sell at the right times. It is mainly the responsibility of the buyer to ensure that the products are developing at the right pace to coincide with the timings mapped out by the critical path. It is vital that they do progress at the right pace as the release dates will have been chosen specifically to maximise sales. Should the dates set out by the critical path not be met, the business will suffer.

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Figure 26 shows the critical path for this baby grow, giving the dates by which each stage would need to be complete by in order for the garment to be ready for launch.

Figure 26: Example Critical Path (Maskery, 2021)

13. Reflective Note Before undertaking this module, my knowledge of the process of taking a garment from concept to launch was extremely limited. Before starting this module, I didn’t know a single step of the buying cycle. Due to this, I found it rather overwhelming in terms of knowing where to start, however, after doing further reading I found that I better understood how to approach, and therefore structure, the portfolio. The areas that I found most challenging were the sourcing strategy and understanding the critical path management but through developing research skills I was able to break down the task one section at a time to better understand each step of the buying process.

I enjoyed researching trend inspiration and planning the range, particularly because I had chosen babywear and, typically, this category allows for more creativity and bolder patterns or colours than what, for example, womenswear would do. Similarly, I enjoyed using Adobe software to design the range as, despite never using CAD for garment design, using Illustrator and Photoshop is something I’m comfortable with. Coming from a creative background meant I enjoyed looking for trends and applying them which is primarily the reason I chose babywear, so that any trends and designs could be a bit bolder, more illustrative or more kitsch than adult fashion.

Completing this portfolio has made me very much look forward to the future and hopefully having a career in this industry. My knowledge has increased so much that I feel a lot better prepared and more confident in looking for roles within fashion.

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Figure List Figure 1 MASKERY, L. “SS22 Retro Babywear Range for Next.” 2021. JPEG file.

Figure 2 PALMER, S. (2021) Design Capsule: Baby and Toddler Little Hippies S/S 22. WGSN [online]. Available from: https://www-wgsncom.proxy.library.dmu.ac.uk/fashion/article/90104 [Accessed 15th May 2021].

Figure 3 PALMER, S. (2021) Design Capsule: Baby and Toddler Little Hippies S/S 22. WGSN [online]. Available from: https://www-wgsncom.proxy.library.dmu.ac.uk/fashion/article/90104 [Accessed 15th May 2021].

Figure 4 MASKERY, L. “Perceptual Map for High Street Childrenswear.” 2021. JPEG file.

Figure 5 MASKERY, L. “Detail of Next's print pattern, taken in store.” 2021. JPEG file.

Figure 6 Next (n.d.) Printed Organic Cotton Sundress (3mths -7yrs). Next.co.uk [online].

Available from: https://www2.next.co.uk/g684403s4/m04715#m04715 [Accessed 15th May 2021].

Figure 7 MASKERY, L. “Detail of Next's print pattern, taken in store.” 2021. JPEG file.

Figure 8 MASKERY, L. “Detail of Next's print pattern, taken in store.” 2021. JPEG file.

Figure 9 MASKERY, L. “Primark Babywear SS21, taken in store .” 2021. JPEG file.

Figure 10 MASKERY, L. “Primark Babywear SS21, taken in store .” 2021. JPEG file.

Figure 11 MASKERY, L. “Primark Babywear SS21, taken in store .” 2021. JPEG file.

Figure 12 GEORGE (n.d) Yellow Safari Print Rompers 3 Pack. Direct.asda.com [online].

Available from: https://direct.asda.com/george/baby/all-in-ones/yellow-safari-print-rompers3-pack/GEM811398,default,pd.html?cgid=D5M9G1C2 [Accessed 15th May 2021].

Figure 13 GEORGE (n.d) Disney Minnie Mouse Romper Bodysuit and Socks Outfit.

Direct.asda.com [online]. Available from: https://direct.asda.com/george/baby/outfits/disneyminnie-mouse-romper-bodysuit-and-socksoutfit/GEM843567,default,pd.html?cgid=D5M10G1C5 [Accessed 15th May 2021].

Figure 14 GEORGE (n.d.) Pink Frill Trim Bodysuits 3 Pack. Direct.asda.com [online].

Available from: https://direct.asda.com/george/baby/bodysuits/pink-frill-trim-bodysuits-3pack/GEM808491,default,pd.html?cgid=D5M10G1C15 [Accessed 15th May 2021].

Figure 15 BOBO CHOSES (n.d.) Chocolate Flowers All Over Buttoned Dress.

Bobochoses.com [online]. Available from: https://www.bobochoses.com/chocolate-flowers-allover-buttoned-dress.html [Accessed 15th May 2021].

Figure 16 BANABAE (n.d.) Rad Kid Twinset in Organic Cotton. Banabae.com [online].

Available from: https://banabae.com/collections/onesies-organic-cotton/products/rad-kidtwinset-in-organic-cotton [Accessed 15th May 2021].

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Figure 17 CLARK, J. (2015) Fashion Merchandising: Principles and Practice. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Fig 18 CLARK, J. (2015) Fashion Merchandising: Principles and Practice. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Fig 19 NEXT (n.d.) Watercolour Zoo Single Printed T-Shirt Romper (0mths-3yrs).

Next.co.uk [online]. Available from: https://www.next.co.uk/g864905s5/259976#259976 [Accessed 15th May 2021].

Fig 20 NEXT (n.d.) Ecru/Pink Floral Print Romper (0mths-2yrs). Next.co.uk [online].

Available from: https://www.next.co.uk/style/st454470/422477#422477 [Accessed 15th May 2021].

Fig 21 NEXT (n.d.) Yellow Seersucker Romper (0mths-2yrs). Next.co.uk [online]. Available from: https://www.next.co.uk/style/st684815/147159#147159 [Accessed 15th May 2021].

Fig 22 MASKERY, L. “SS22 Retro Babywear Range for Next Pricing Architecture.” 2021.

JPEG file.

Fig 23 MASKERY, L. “SS22 Retro Babywear Range for Next Orange Baby Grow.” 2021.

JPEG file.

Fig 24 MASKERY, L. “Proposed Costing Chart.” 2021. JPEG file.

Fig 25 MASKERY, L. “Proposed Technical Specification Sheet.” 2021. JPEG file.

Fig 26 MASKERY, L. “Proposed Critical Path.” 2021. JPEG file.

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