Byer California was the first B2B company I had the pleasure of working with, where I gained valuable experience across several roles during my nearly three-year tenure in San Francisco.
I began as a Product Developer in Junior Sportswear, focusing on knits and woven tops. I quickly advanced to a team lead, overseeing development for all woven tops and Junior Suiting, and collaborating closely with our LA office for fittings and manufacturing.
Later, I transitioned into an Associate Design role for Women’s/Missy Sportswear, where I managed trend forecasting, fabric and sample requests, and procurement of prints, trims, and notions for monthly markets. Byer’s in-house sewing facility and fabric/trim warehouse allowed us to ensure all samples were thoroughly reviewed before presenting them to buyers. Once orders were placed, I coordinated with the production team to ensure smooth transitions.
Although the impact of COVID-19 led to the company's challenges, I am grateful for the experience and knowledge I gained at Byer, which has shaped my career decisions moving forward.
Byer California/ Jr. Sportswear / Women's Sportwear / Women's Dresses
Byer California/ Jr. Sportswear / Women's Sportwear / Women's Dresses
Process
Month to month markets resenting 35-75 samples to Buyers from retailers like Nordstroms, Kohls, Macy’s & Stitchfix.
Pre-sourced prints with vendors, fabrications & trims with inhouse material specialist & vendors,
Sourcing is a constant process for current and future collections. Libraries are created to organize for designs to come.
Designs are lead by trend reports, competition, sales, seasonality and the retailers customer.
Sketches created through Adobe Illustrator with detailed instructions on garment block, build, materials, print and timeline that would be handed off to the technical team for the 1st sample pattern & yield estimates for costing & production details.
Tech packs are created including CAD with tech design instructions, size range, customer, BOM and estimated yield in PLM.
Samples reviews were completed with lead buyer, designers and creative director, making edits to the garments, colors, trims and prints. On average it takes 2-3 market samples before approved to send to market.
All elements are documented with swatches, CADs, samples, prices and photos in the techpack to hand over to product development to lead through the production process.
Product Developers rely on market prep documentations to communicate with all other parties in production.
Reference samples of all trims, fabrications, materials, prints and technical patterns are kept for record for future orders and designs,