Tuesday

Today was a busy day again. I finally finished up my international project of sorting the samples that have been sent and the ones due to arrive by country. I also put together an international order for one of our clients in Maldives. In order to do that I had to pack the stock we had in the back, print out an invoice through MYOB, process their credit card information for the garments and cost of shipping, then book it through Harrison Logistics. After I put together the shipment I worked with Britt (manufacturing/production) we checked legging samples that were sent to us from a manufacturer. Since the Camilla label is a one size fits all brand we had all the staff try them on for comfort. Once we received everyones feedback on the cuts and fabric hand of the leggings I shipped them back to our manufacturer before 3pm. By shipping the leggings back by 3pm production can start right away on the pair of leggings that we chose to go into production. The timing on shipping the sample pieces is crucial. Since our manufacturer is in India our shipments need to be on a plane by 5pm. The faster the approved samples are back to the manufacturer the faster production can start, making it easier for the manufacturer to meet our deadlines of getting the final garments in stores. I also worked on scanning inspiration cuts and prints to be saved on our S drive in the inspirations folder for Britt and Camilla.

Monday

The start of yet another week. Today was a very busy day again. It seems like when I get one project I get a whole pile of projects all at once. Today I started my continuos project of sorting out the sample garments that have been sent and the ones that will be sent from our main manufacturer for our agents in Greece and Milan on an excel sheet. While doing that I had several other tasks going on as well. I shipped a garment through mail call to our PR agency, and checked in five boxes of scarves. I also checked in 15 sample garments from 3 manufacturers for Camilla and Britt to approve, so production can begin on the style of garments that samples were sent for. I took production notes with Britt when we met with Camilla. From there I took digital images of the garments and identified the areas on the garments that needed adjustments, and sent the digital file to the appropriate manufacturer. After working on the production project I went back to my international sales project, sorting Milan and Greece. I was also told to update the press folder and put together and international shipment. I didn't have time to get to my other tasks, because I still haven't finished the international project. I stayed at work late today and still didn't have enough time. So I still have three projects awaiting me in the morning.

Friday

TGIF!!! Today was interesting................I walked in the door to work ten minutes early, barely had 5 seconds to throw by bags down. Immediately had to get in the car with the girls from work to go set up the pop up shop for the weekend. I had no clue that I was going to be involved with the pop up shop since I normally work in the office. However, because our office over looks the Bondi shop the retail girls and office girls work like a family and help each other out. The retail girls had a lot to get done in a short amount of time so we all went down to Fashion Ave. on Bondi Beach to help set up the pop up shop. We brought all the garments that Hannah and I sorted from the studio the other day to Fashion Ave. It took us from 9am-1pm to set everything up. Our little section for the pop up shop had the Camilla look with press banners, chocolates, candles burning, show cards, look books, Camilla hangers all facing one direction and all evenly spaced apart, etc. After setting everything up, we went back to the office. As soon as we got in Britt( Manufacturing/Production) noticed that we were supposedly missing a shipment of samples that were sent by one of our manufacturers. Which created a high stress level in the office, because the samples were to be approved by Camilla on Monday morning. So everyone was frantically running around tearing the office and back rooms apart to look for this shipment of samples. We could not find them anywhere.....we then started calling our PR agent to see if we accidentally sent them a sample instead of a regular garment for a photo shoot. They didn't have it, so then Britt and I drove up to the design studio to see if maybe it had been taken there. Come to find out the tracking number for the shipment was wrong and it was for a sample that we received two weeks ago and the sample that we were looking for was still in India........lol.....all that stress for nothing:)....lol Pretty much a stressful day and waste of time at the office....lol A very crazy, busy, and yet unproductive day all in one.

Thursday

A very long long day. I worked in between manufacturing/production and International sales. International sales wanted to know what garments have been produced by our manufacturers and sent to us, and what garments are still to come. Manufacturing and production gave me all the information that I need to compile the excel sheet for all the garments that should be sent to the US, Greece, Milan, Japan, and, UK and what is still to come for each country. I sorted it all out with the directions that I was given by manufacturing/production then sent it to International sales. To find out that international sales wanted it set up differently and in a specific format. So pretty much everything I did from 9am-12:30pm I had to redo:( Today I only finished sorting all the orders by garment correctly for what has been sent and what is still to come for the US, Japan, and half of the UK. It is a very time consuming task and I will be finishing Greece, Milan, and the rest of the UK hopefully tomorrow.

Wednesday

Today I got to work with Bec (National Sales)! I helped her research boutiques in Melbourne that carry similar labels to the boutiques/stores that we currently are stocked in. Bec will be making a road trip to all our stockists in Melbourne and surrounding areas. During her road trip she will also be seeking out potential stockists. In order to help her I was looking at boutique/store websites to see what kind of labels they carried and where they were located. The location of the boutique/store is important, because we don't want two or more boutiques/stores that carry the Camilla label to be right next to each other. If the boutiques/stores are to close together it will create market saturation. After a little research I helped Hannah (retail stylist/in house model) up at the studio. We sorted through about 500 or more old Camilla garments that could be sold in a pop-up store this weekend. The pop-up store will be selling the past seasons garments at a discounted price. Once we chose about 100 garments out of the 500 that we thought would sell the best, we took them back to the Bondi store.

Tuesday

Today I got to work on the store floor instead of in the office. I spent the majority of the day working on a little visual merchandising with the retail team. Camilla told Isobel, Hannah, and I what she had in mind of what she wanted on the store floor. The same as everyday Camilla only had a limited amount of time to work with us, which in reality means a 5 minute brief of what she wants done. So, we rearranged the merchandise to make the floor layout look better and gave it a fresh new look. We also rearranged some of our old props/displays. Camilla wanted the store to look good, because the new babylon collection will coming to stores in Australia mid August, and she wanted the store to have a new look. After doing the rearranging on the floor I spent the remainder of the day with the retail girls doing a stock take in the stores stockroom.

Monday-Week 11

The start of week eleven. I can't believe it has been that long already. This morning it started out compiling all of of the sample tables that we currently have into a folder to take with to the design studio. Britt (design assistant/ manufacturing & production) and I took the sample tables to the design studio for Camilla to go through. Since, Camilla is always busy she only had a select time frame that she could work with us. We showed her what sample images we had received from current manufacturers. From there Camilla told Britt and I what she did like and what she wanted changed or slightly adjusted. So Britt and I were frantically writing down all the production notes on what Camilla wanted changed. We met with Camilla from morning to midday. Once we were done working with her we went back to the office to type up the production notes and send them to the appropriate manufacturer. Doing this took a lot of time, because you have to attach the image of the garment that you want changed and then highlight or circle what needs to be changed on that garment. On top of that you have to give specific directions to the manufacturer so they understand exactly what needs to be changed. The more precise we are with the directions/production notes the more likely the manufacturer will change it the right way. The less time going back and forth with a manufacturer the better.