Utilizing Mentorship To Diversify the Vendor Mix

Historically, the role of the buyer was to discover newness for their retail channels and for their customers. However, with the changing landscape of the retail industry, retailers are ever concerned with profitability and the bottom line, leaving buyers to take fewer risks and be more focused on the financials. I was tasked with facilitating the partnership between the Independent Handbag Designers Awards and Macy’s to diversify their vendor mix.

Partnering With Non-Profits to Discover New Talent

The fashion industry has many small non-profits that serve niche talent. Many of these organizations can go virtually unnoticed if you’re not looking for them. For example, Independent Handbag Designers Awards (IHDA) is a global competition that recognizes independent handbag designers based on specific criteria like student-designed, handmade, sustainable, etc. In 2018, Macy’s sponsored the IDHA’s “Best Retail Bag” category, where the winner is an independent handbag designer with a “retail ready” handbag line. The winner was GUNAS New York, luxury vegan handbag brand by Founder/Creative Director, Sugandh G. Agrawal.

Getting Retail Ready Through Mentorship

After Sugandh’s win, I worked with her personally to get her ready to be in Macy’s stores. I began by meeting with her to learn about her brand and her goals. Next I met with all of the Handbag Buyers at Macys to introduce her brand and how she would be a great fit for the vendor mix. Once a Buying Office decided to take her on, we worked with Sugandh on assortment and pricing strategy and launched at Macy’s Herald Square – the largest department store in the United States. As of today, GUNAS is Macy’s only 100% vegan Handbag brand and the only handbag brand by a woman of color.