Nicole Tormley – Fashion Buying Career Success with Help From Portobello Tutors
Fashion Buying & Merchandising
Business of Fashion
A fashion buying career might not be on the top of everyone’s list when they are leaving school as little is known about the role which happens behind the scenes in the fashion industry.
Leaving school puts enormous pressure on students to determine the rest of their lives by choosing a course of study.
Some get it right but many get it wrong and when they do, they need to re-evaluate the situation and find something new.
This was the case for Nicole Tormley who initially chose to study social care but found it was not really for her.
“I had dropped out of studying social care two years prior and was feeling seriously lost in terms of the career path I wanted to follow. I’d been working for Penneys for nearly three years at this stage and spent time contemplating what I wanted to study and ensuring I’d study something I really had a passion for,” she said.
At Penney’s, Nicole had been trained in visual merchandising and discovered her talent in this area and a desire to make a fashion-buying career for herself, she had found her niche.
She could see a career path at Penneys yet felt she needed a qualification in order to progress and she enrolled on the Fashion Buying & Merchandising course at Portobello Institute.
Nicole felt the course was exactly what she needed to progress toward the dream of a fashion-buying career she was chasing.
“I gained so much valuable knowledge about the industry from my three amazing tutors Nicole, Anne Marie and Janet! It opened my eyes about the retail industry and provided so much insight from how clothes are designed manufactured, picked and processed by buying and merchandising teams, right down to how they’re displayed in-store and online,” she said.
Given her previous college experience, she was delighted that she had found a course that offered her the opportunity to be creative and study something she had a genuine interest in.
“It also gave me an opportunity to be really creative and think outside the box which is something I didn’t appreciate enough until now.
“Making my first piece of clothing from start to finish, developing a clothing line and virtual boutique from start to finish and finally developing my very own visual display from start to finish! I truly loved every single minute of this course,” she said.
She credits her tutors as the creators of her education experience for their guidance and support throughout her learning journey at Portobello.
“I have gained so much knowledge from my amazing tutors, they are truly amazing people and it was a pleasure to learn from them. Any queries I had were answered and whenever I was unsure of myself, I was always met with positivity and encouragement,” she said.
Nicole is delighted that she took the plunge and enrolled on this course.
“It is an all-around amazing course and I am extremely sad it’s all over. It has given me the confidence and knowledge to believe in myself and my ability to progress into my career as a buyer. I’m so grateful for all the knowledge I’ve gained through this course! I feel like I can take on the world!”
Find Out More
At Portobello Institute we have a number of business of fashion undergraduate degrees and post-graduate opportunities. Find out more about our BA (Hons) in Fashion Buying & Merchandising, BA (Hons) in Fashion Management, Post Graduate Certificate in Fashion Buying & Merchandising, Postgraduate Certificate in Fashion Management and other courses.
If you are interested in any of our business of fashion courses or have any questions you can book a consultation call with our expert advisor Sarah Coyne email [email protected] or call 01 892 0041.
