Despite laughter from the audience, Coach Costing Director Jung Yoon looked out into a crowd of Boston University students and told them to wait a while before getting married if they wanted to find success in the fashion industry.
Yoon told about 60 attendees that she learned that staying single is the best way to have a successful personal and professional life. Speaking as part of a BU Fashion and Retail Association-hosted lecture, Yoon gave advice based on personal experience.
‘It’s crazy,’ she said. ‘But that’s what keeps it interesting.’
Yoon described the fashion industry as fast-paced, because employees have to place orders for materials at the last minute to keep up with the latest fashion trends. She joined Coach seven years ago as an assistant buyer, a demanding position that required late nights and international travel. When Coach created a new department a year and a half ago, she became one of the youngest directors of the company.
As costing director, Yoon is responsible for negotiations between the merchandisers and designers. Her responsibility is to influence the design around cost efficiency to produce items customers will be willing to pay for, while maintaining merchandise integrity at the same time, she said.
‘We can produce the most beautiful bag, but if we don’t sell it at the right price point, it’s not going to sell,’ she said. ‘Coach is really dedicated to servicing the customer. We really take pride in the product, the quality.’
Coach was founded in 1941, basing the design of its original classic leather bag on the iconic American leather baseball glove, according to the Coach website.
When Yoon hires people, she said she looks for students from regular colleges, rather than art schools, because they are ‘more well-rounded.’
Yoon’s advice to students trying to enter the fashion industry is to have ‘self-skill.’
‘It’s really about your candidness, openness, eagerness to learn,’ she said.
School of Management sophomore Meghan Ross said she was grateful for Yoon’s career advice.
‘It was helpful for business majors to know what she looks for in an employee,’ she said.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
