Today’s guest for The Stanza’s In The Room series is Sarah Rutson, a fashion executive who’s built a 30+ year career as an agitator and creative merchant. Sarah left school at 16 and began working at Mark’s & Spencer’s in their merchandising & buying departments before moving to Hong Kong in the 90’s to position Lane Crawford as the premier luxury retailer set to capture the incredible growth of China & HK. During her 23 year tenure at Lane Crawford, Sarah became known as a buyer with the Midas touch and built a track record of predicting big trends and brands that were part of the cultural zeitgeist.
Upon moving back west to London, Sarah was hired at Net-a-Porter by Natalie Massenet as Head of Global Buying, where she was instrumental in the incredible growth of several top luxury brands, and predicted the future success of brands such as Loewe, Jacquemus, and JW Anderson. Sarah has advised a variety of brands, from start ups to publicly traded companies, as well as other fashion executives and investors in making key decisions that have shaped the industry.
Sarah is well known and respected behind the scenes as someone who isn’t afraid to voice an opinion, which is why I chose to have her on as a guest. As we all know, fashion is at an interesting junction as an industry, and my goal for sharing this conversation is to get people to critically assess if the way things have always been done is the right thing to do going forwards.
Feel free to share your thoughts and questions in the comments section!
Get in touch with Sarah on LinkedIn or Instagram
Interview Highlights:
Leaving school at 16 and building a reputation as a creative merchant
Voicing authentic opinions in high stakes career situations
Orchestrating the growth of top luxury brands as a global buyer
What do brands typically overspend on?
Advice for brands on maintaining brand value over the long term
Advising PE investors on acquiring fashion brands
Thoughts on founder-led fashion brands
What works and what doesn’t work in fashion brand turnarounds?
Brands are businesses, not creative outlets
Advice for brand founders fundraising in tough times
Fashion’s echo chamber & the current state of the industry
Predictions for the future of fashion consumer behavior
