I was a merchandiser in the luxury/fashion industry.
To be a good merchandiser, I must appeal to both my left and right brain in the most sophisticated way.
You see,
Behind the scene, I was almost logical and analytical. I could put various data points on a particular shade of green, on a particular finish of calf leather or on an angle of the curve of a bracelet.
When I was on the stage; that was in front of retail staff doing product training or the VIPs in preview events, I told the most emotional and sensational of stories of a specific knit skirt or a plain white shirt.
The analytical part was easy to get.
The story-telling part was a bit confusing.
I moved to the China market when it began the decline from the first luxury goods boom of 2005. Sales reports were more often in red than in green.
I kept hearing our department head (my boss’ boss) asking for stories.
English is my 3rd language. Every now and then, even a certain use of a most common word escapes me.
What story?
We were not in fiction writing business or in kindergarten, weren’t we??!
A collection is not just about beautiful models, sparkling runway shows and celebrities.
A collection is always an intricate fabrication of stories.
From the inspiration to color palates, from a bag to the length of lashes on the models, from the runway flash lights to the store windows… EVERYTHING is wrapped in stories.
We created stories when a best-selling style ran out of stock.
We created stories when a low-moving bag needed further sales push.
As they said, we were not selling clothes but selling dreams, hopes and love.
If a pair of earrings have its story, as story-tellers, what are our stories?
We are not living in facts and statistics BUT in stories we tell ourselves.
The stories we tell ourselves are the past we lived, the present we breathe and the future we are about to create.
Before each launch, for a whole month, we would be busy translating all the training materials, crafting each single stories and practicing how to tell convincing and enticing stories.
And the stories were not just about what we said. Everything, from the font on the ppt to the set up of the conference room, from how I dressed to how the staff experienced the training, is all part of that intricately fabricated story.
Not mentioning more stories conjured, made-up during the season for the sake of steering business.
We went to such length for a wallet.
What length did you walk for your life and your success?
Do you want to begin seriously crafting your stories?
Be love and be loved.
(Photo: the staff was very indifferent with this new line of handbag. I was doing all I could telling and selling stories.)