Day in the life as a Buying intern at Anthropologie

This was an exceptional day to write this article! Bear in mind I pre-plan my topics, and happened to allocate this particular day to track my day as an intern. It ended up being brilliant - so please be aware not every day is like this! 

me on the way to work #interncore

To give a brief backstory - last year I wanted to experience buying in a real fashion office, so acquired a three week work placement at Anthropologie - and loved it. I then was invited back in October, and started as a buying intern for a three month period a few weeks ago. 

So far I’ve learnt so much! Through an extortionate amount of trend forecasting, competitor analysis, market research, sample development, and administration tasks.

Without further ado… let me set the scene of this week as an intern for you. 

Day in the life: Part 1 - Wednesday 3rd December

Wednesday the 3rd of December I headed into central London - Brick Lane to be exact. Which is where URBN offices are (housing Urban Outfitters, Free People, and Anthropologie). My hair was dripping wet – poor timing with the Elizabeth line delays and the gloomy english rain not being on my side at all. 

However when I waltzed into the office and sat down at my desk I was greeted with a pre-organised list of tasks for me to complete. Which I loved because everyone is usually SO busy I end up walking around like a lost dog begging for tasks.

Today my list started with some research into birthstone necklaces, and SS26 caps and hat trends. Looking specifically for anything funky, fun and very Anthropologie. So due to being a complete fashion nerd I started reciting the many hat styles from the SS26 shows, and guest outfits. Including: Sailor hats, Berets, Baker boy hats, bucket hats, and flat back caps. 

After gathering an absurd amount of imagery from Pinterest on another four trend forecasting presentations I had to retire my laptop for a lunch break! When I came back I finished off a presentation on unique colour combinations for hair accessories, shoe trends for AW26, current Tiktok trends for hair and beauty, and soooo much more. 

After a totalled five hour trend forecasting session I swapped to a more interactive task for a movement break... hanging the new sample development handbags on the display wall - ready for the big boss to see the following day!

Speaking of samples I then set up all the jewellery and eyewear samples ready to be shot the following day at the in-house studio; organised about five trays worth of tangled up necklaces - and then headed home! 

Day in the life: Part 2 - Thursday 4th December

Now this is not where the story ends, because this week my days were consecutive - meaning the next day was just as packed… my heart set on finishing this longgggggg list.

When I came in on the following day I looked much fresher, with a cute outfit as well! Shirt, with a layered cami over the top - feeling very Rachel Green - ready to fully tackle the day… and it was very much tackled. 

I had three things left on the list to complete… a comp shop on bags at highstreet retailers, new product lines we should be aware of from shoe lines we stock (e.g. Birkenstock, UGG, Doc Martens…), and researching the packaging for the birthstone necklaces so we can go above and beyond. 

My brain was so locked in this day I got it all done by 11am, and was then informed we were having a sample clear out. So the girlies at Anthropologie had piled together loads of no longer needed samples from the storage cupboard and put it all in a box.

Before announcing, “Come grab some free stuff!” To which obviously everyone jumped up like Lions attacking their prey. The first box I pounced on was hair accessories, and there was some incredible stuff. Then came jewellery - which I’m working on, so I got first dibs! As well as hats, cold weather, and handbags!!!

I was overjoyed as a novice to the industry would be, however the others weren’t as ecstatic as this is probably a quartely occurence. All the more for me, my bag was growing bigger with every pass to the bathroom… not suspicious at all. 

I have an addiction to clothes

Then came the true worst offender – Urban Outfitters downstairs was hosting a Christmas sample sale, where you could buy a bag for £20 and fill it to the BRIM with samples from URBN!!! I went to town, and what's better is that all the money from the bags goes to charity! 

Obviously this is not a regular occurence, just extreme luck on my part for being there on that day, and it's a brilliant perk of a job within the fashion industry for sure. So I took full advantage - only leaving when my bag was physically too big the seams were bursting at the sides.

I headed back up to the office to drop off my new wardrobe, along with some new sample deliveries for SS26 Jewellery. Which we unpacked and discussed what was working and what was not with the suppliers via email, discussing materials, lengths, beading, metal, thread etc of summer earrings. 

some new development pieces...

I love that part of the job because you are actually curating something from scratch that someone will end up buying in a shop – and it could end up being their favourite item ever! 

Then I made myself useful - feeling a tad guilty after the insane amount of stuff I had in my bag! So I tasked myself with untangling an insanely big box of earrings and bracelets in the storage room, and organised all the bags into categories to make it easier for the buying team to see the samples we have in.

Finishing up around 5pm and heading home with an extra 40kg on my shoulder. I was humongous - but it was entirely worth it. Working at Anthropologie is such a lovely environment, the work-life balance seems to be honoured really well, and the perks are insane.

I’m so grateful for the experience and I am learning an exponential amount of useful things during the process. Having nearly completed six weeks I’m sure you’ll hear much more about it as I continue my time… I just needed to let you all know about the ridiculous sample sale that occurred. 

With love, 

Mimi x