At Comptoir, we of course know full well that designing beautiful garments is essential, but also that this creativity requires a careful and inventive presentation. And to do just that, we have Bénédicte, a talented visual merchandiser! We followed her during a day’s work to get to know more about her everyday goings on.
Hello Bénédicte, you are a visual merchandiser at Comptoir, how long have you been working here?
I’ve been working at Comptoir des Cotonniers for the past 4 years, and I have been responsible for visual merchandising for the past 6 months. Before that, I was regional manager for the South East region for 3 and 1/2 years.
Can you tell us what your work involves?
I’m responsible for showcasing the collection in the stores and shop windows, in close collaboration with the style, purchasing and sales departments.
I also train our sales teams in France and abroad to help them optimize their visual merchandising and implementation of the products in the stores or in shop windows. I am regularly in the field to collect feedback from our teams.
What does it mean in your everyday life? Can you describe a typical day?
I start the day by looking at the past week’s sales to get some feedback about the shop windows and merchandising. I then define, with the purchasing manager, which products the department wants to put forward. I make several propositions and simulations which are presented to the whole management team.
Once they are validated, I prepare the window display and merchandising note that will be sent to points of sale. I also monitor store feedback from the previous week.
What kind of studies do you need to do for this profession? How did you yourself get to be in that line of work?
There are schools for visual merchandisers. As for me, I did not study that field of work, but in the different companies where I worked, I often had the opportunity to acquire skills in visual merchandising. I have in-depth knowledge of the fieldwork and therefore of the stores, which gives me a balanced vision of what works and what does not, and therefore a good understanding of style as well as commercial requirements.
Where do you draw inspiration from to create the window displays and store installations?
My inspirations come from having an external eye on different trends, while keeping a strong sense of the brand DNA required by the style team.
Is there a window display you are particularly proud of?
I really like one at the beginning of the season, centered round the colors yellow and khaki.
Our interview took place in the showroom where Bénédicte fashions the looks on the mannequins ready for window displays, as well as on the clothing racks you find in the stores.
Bénédicte starts by selecting the products that will be sent to the stores.
She then chooses the clothes that will go on display and start dressing the mannequins.
Every detail counts. Everything must be perfect on the photos sent for validation, and then to the stores.
She then moves to the clothing racks. Bénédicte gathers all the colors together, spreads the clothes on an empty rail, inserts touches of colors, balances the whole thing as she goes, determines which pieces should be hung on hangers for more peps. And there you go, the clothing rack is ready!
A job at the crossroads of creativity and business!
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