Fashion Buyer CV example

Hiring managers don’t just want a fashion enthusiast – they want someone who knows how to buy what sells and negotiate smartly. Your CV needs to make that case in under 30 seconds.

This guide will take you through the full process: from writing a CV in the right order to tailoring each section in a way that reflects your market understanding and brand alignment. If it’s done well, your CV will be as curated and commercially driven as the product mix you’re used to shaping.

Your CV isn’t just a list – it’s a product in itself. And like any good range plan, it needs structure and strong visual organisation. If the formatting is confusing or full of mistakes, a recruiter won’t wait around to work out what’s where – they’ll just move on to the next candidate.

Here’s the layout to follow:

• Name and contact details – Display your personal details clearly at the top so employers can get in touch easily. Including a photo is entirely optional.
• Profile – Begin with a concise summary that highlights your expertise and what you bring to the role.
• Core skills – Highlight your strongest skills that align with the role’s requirements.
• Work experience – Start with your most recent role and work backwards, showcasing achievements and responsibilities.
• Education – Mention your degrees, certifications, and any training that supports your career path.
• Additional info – Include any additional details, like awards, professional memberships, or hobbies that highlight your skills or personality.
  

Make use of bullet points to keep everything skimmable and clear, and divide your CV into neatly labelled sections with consistent headings. Choose a clean, stylish font – nothing too fussy – and give each section breathing space. Keep the whole document length under two pages, and resist the urge to overdecorate. Treat your CV format the same way you’d treat a buyer’s report.

This section sits right at the top – and it needs to make the right first impression. Use it to show that you understand both the creative and commercial side of fashion buying, and that you can balance trend awareness with margin goals and stock turnover.

Your CV profile is your first chance to hook recruiters, so make sure you pack it with enough information to show your value, without overwhelming or boring the reader.

Here’s what to include:

• Where you worked – Mention the types of retailers or brands you’ve worked with, and whether they were high street, luxury, e-commerce, or department stores.
• Your top qualifications – Include any fashion-related degrees or business certifications that support your buyer expertise.
• Essential skills – Briefly highlight the core strengths you bring to a fashion buying role – such as trend analysis, supplier management, or forecasting.
• Teams or departments supported – Note the functions you collaborated with, such as design, merchandising, marketing, or VM.
• Value delivered – Explain how your work contributed to commercial success – increased sell-through, reduced markdowns, or improved supplier terms.
  

As a buyer, your strongest assets are your ability to analyse data, spot trends, negotiate prices, and forecast demand. This section is where you underline those strengths – but only the ones that align with the job you’re applying for.

Tailor your CV skills to reflect what’s asked for in the job advert. Steer clear of vague terms or filler here – focus on hard, tangible skills that reflect your decision-making and commercial acumen.

You’re applying for a role that depends on results – so this section should show the impact of your decisions, not just your job duties. If you influenced revenue, improved product sell-through, or launched a new line that outperformed expectations, this is the place to shout about it. A useful tip is to sprinkle in some numbers wherever possible.

List your previous roles in reverse chronological order. Open each work experience entry with a short paragraph summarising your role and the type of business you worked for. Then break down the key duties and results using bullet points – and keep each point sharp and outcome-focused.

• Outline – Give context on the brand or company and the scale of your buying responsibilities. Mention what kind of ranges you worked on and who you reported to.
• Responsibilities – Use action words like “selected” and “negotiated.” For example: “selected seasonal ranges aligned with sales trends” or “negotiated with overseas suppliers to improve margins.”
• Achievements – Include clear commercial results where you can – such as reduced excess stock, improved full-price sell-through, or successful launches of exclusive collections.

Fashion buyers come from a variety of academic backgrounds – and while formal qualifications aren’t everything, they’re still useful to include. Focus on your most relevant education, such as fashion degrees or courses in business.

List your most recent qualification first and include the course title, institution, and year of completion. If you’ve done short courses in fashion merchandising or data analysis, those are well worth including too – especially if they help bridge any gaps between your creative and analytical skills.