Leanne Holmes knew she wanted to work in fashion long before she knew what that work would look like. As a child she dreamed of owning her own shop. As a teenager she made her own clothes, because the pieces she wanted simply weren’t on the rails. She went on to study clothing design at school and fashion design at college.
Somewhere along the way, the business side of the industry caught her attention: who decides what gets made, in what quantities, and where it ends up. That curiosity took her to Manchester University and a degree in International Fashion Marketing, and from there into a career that has now run for around two decades.
Today she is Chief Commercial Officer at STYLI, part of Landmark Group, responsible for the strategy that turns trends, data and product into growth. Ask what has carried her this far and the answer keeps returning to the same few things: a clear vision, real respect for the product, and the habit of treating every job as if the business were her own.
Learning the trade
Her first job was as an allocation analyst at Hugo Boss in London, working on buying and merchandising for the brand’s outlet division. It was the role that showed her what she was capable of, and it planted an entrepreneurial streak that has never really left.
Back in Manchester, she joined Henleys as a merchandiser and helped build the merchandising function almost from the ground up: setting up business reporting, forecasting the figures and leading the switch to a new merchandising system. She was given genuine autonomy and remembers the place with obvious affection. A clear vision from the top, and the freedom to act on it, taught her where she does her best work and which environments suit her. It also convinced her that clarity is not a nice-to-have. It is what allows people and companies to grow at the same time.
Growing at startup speed
The defining chapter came at Pretty Little Thing, where she was Head of Merchandising. During her 18 months there, the business grew from 20 employees to 200 and became one of the quickest-growing names in online fashion at the time. Sales climbed sharply while the team built new infrastructure, trained new people, connected multiple systems and introduced a test-and-repeat buying model, all at once.
None of it was magic, she says. It came down to a vision and goals the whole company understood, quick testing, constant communication, and the energy of hitting sales targets together. Hard work and consistency did the rest.
Then she did it again as an owner. Leanne co-founded I Saw It First, leading merchandising, buying and the creative side. Starting from nothing taught her the fundamentals of running a business, and the pressure that comes with it, in a way no employed role could. With her experience behind it, the company grew quickly.
Afterwards she stepped away for a year. The pandemic had changed how people shopped and worked, and she wanted time to think about what customers would need next and where she fitted in. She came back convinced the industry was heading into a lively new phase, and keen to be part of it.
Looking back, she sees a pattern in the moves. Each one put her a little closer to the whole business, from allocating stock to building teams, systems and finally a company of her own.
Career at a glance
- Manchester University: degree in International Fashion Marketing
- Hugo Boss, London: allocation analyst, outlet division
- Henleys, Manchester: merchandiser, building the function
- Pretty Little Thing: Head of Merchandising, from 20 to 200 people in 18 months
- I Saw It First: co-founder, leading merchandising, buying and creative
- STYLI, Landmark Group: Chief Commercial Officer
How merchandising grew up
Leanne has watched merchandising change enormously over the past 15 years. Many fashion businesses now work on a test-and-repeat model: launch small, watch what sells, then back the winners. Done well, it lifts sales and cuts the risk of being left with stock nobody wants.
The job itself has become far more analytical. Today’s merchandisers shape trading strategy, marketing, forecasts and targets, and even how products are laid out and positioned online, while constantly hunting for the next sales opportunity. Yet for all the data, she insists, the product has to stay at the centre of every decision.
Her move into commercial strategy felt natural, particularly after co-founding I Saw It First. She has always liked roles where a trading decision shows up in the results almost immediately, and where she can influence the wider business.
The startup gamble
She is candid about the risk of joining a startup. You have to be flexible and stretch your skills across areas you may never have touched. The reward is a rounded understanding of how a business really works, and the chance to find abilities you didn’t know you had.
Ever since Hugo Boss she has run each job like a business she owns, and she pushes her teams to think that way too wherever the culture allows it. That sense of ownership, she believes, is where passion, motivation and fresh ideas come from.
Steering STYLI
As Chief Commercial Officer at STYLI, Leanne’s remit is wide. She keeps a constant eye on market trends, customer behaviour and competitors to spot where growth will come from next, then turns that into plans for sales, revenue and brand positioning.
She works on the supply chain too, from sourcing to inventory and logistics, looking for ways to make it faster, leaner and better at meeting demand. And she owns the financial side of commercial decisions, including budgets, forecasts and analysis, to make sure growth is also profitable.
Three pressures, three answers
Shifting trends: move as fast as the customer. Fashion customers change their minds quickly. Her answer is agile, data-led forecasting and product development, so the brand can react while a trend is still rising.
Supply shocks: build in resilience. Geopolitics, pandemics and environmental events can all break a supply chain. She spreads risk across suppliers, sources more locally and invests in technology that shows problems early.
Price pressure: give people a reason to pay. Competing on price alone is a race to the bottom. She focuses on loyalty, a distinct offer, a standout customer experience and products worth paying more for.
Keeping the brand intact
Growing quickly without losing the brand’s identity is a balancing act. Leanne’s approach is to make sure the vision, goals and targets are understood at every level of the company. Startups in particular get pulled in different directions as more people join and more opinions arrive. The companies that succeed, in her experience, hold on to a clear vision and know exactly who their customer is.
Listening to that customer, through data, research and market analysis, tells you what to do more of and what to stop. She points to Pretty Little Thing as proof: a business that grew sales, people and systems at the same time because everyone was pulling toward the same goals.
Plenty of data, not enough understanding
For all the information companies now hold, she thinks many still struggle to understand their customers. The volume itself is part of the problem: it is hard to tell what matters. Her fix is to keep gathering feedback and market signals and to let those insights drive decisions across the business, so that every process change genuinely helps the customer.
She is a believer in agile ways of working, while admitting that large, established companies find the shift harder. New processes and technology should be built to scale, with enough flexibility in supply chains and staffing to adjust quickly. Advanced analytics can flag trends and problems early, and rapid prototyping lets a team test an idea before committing to it. None of it sticks, though, without good change management: clear communication, training and real support for the people being asked to work differently.
Everyone pulling toward the same goals: that, she says, is what lets a business grow fast without coming apart.
Looking up from the daily trade
Fashion moves too fast for anyone to rely on instinct alone, and Leanne is open about how easy it is to get absorbed in the daily trade and lose sight of the bigger picture. So she builds looking ahead into her routine.
She doesn’t attend every catwalk show, but she follows them closely through trend-forecasting services, which also feed into range planning and marketing. Competitor-analysis tools show how rivals are responding to the same trends. Social media gives her the live conversation around what is emerging, and e-commerce analytics show changes in what people buy, and who is buying, early enough to act on in stock, product and marketing plans.
Then there is the human side. Trade shows put her in a room with other industry leaders, and specialist industry media helps her read how competitors and the wider market are moving.
None of these sources gives the answer on its own. Read together, they help a commercial team see a trend coming rather than chasing it once it has already arrived.
How she keeps ahead
- Trend forecasting: services such as WGSN, to follow the catwalks and plan ranges
- Competitor analysis: Edited and similar platforms, to see how rivals respond
- Social media: the real-time conversation about what is emerging
- E-commerce analytics: Google Analytics and similar, for shifts in buying patterns
- Trade shows: time with industry leaders
- Industry media: The Business of Fashion, for the wider market view
Advice for the next generation
Leanne’s advice to people starting out is practical. Spend your first years somewhere you can learn the whole industry: find knowledgeable mentors, say yes to varied tasks and get involved in as many projects as you can. Research the best companies and aim to work alongside the best people.
She still remembers the six-week, full-time training programme she did at TK Maxx before starting her role there, the kind of grounding she says is rare today. If you find a company that still invests in people like that, she says, take the chance.
Try different kinds of organisation, from young startups to big corporations, to find out whether you thrive with structure or with freedom. The right environment makes an enormous difference to motivation, so look for places that keep improving, for their people as well as their results.
Communication matters more than most graduates expect: being able to make your point clearly, in a meeting or an email, is what gets good ideas heard.
Set long-term goals, whether you want to be a buyer, a designer, a retail manager or a founder, and map out how you will get there. A plan keeps you focused when the work gets hard.
And be patient. Social media makes success in fashion look instant, she says, but it is built by working your way up, one role and one lesson at a time.
Her checklist for a career in fashion retail
- Communicate clearly. You will need it with designers, suppliers and customers alike.
- Love the product. Learn to read what the runway is telling you; it matters more every year.
- Keep learning. Stay open to new technology and keep updating your skills.
- Build resilience. Trends and economies shift; the people who last keep their goals in view.
- Know the numbers. Budgeting, financial management and sales analysis sit alongside a good eye.
- Go digital. E-commerce, social media marketing, analytics and online merchandising.
- Be creative. Whether in design, marketing or service, new ideas keep a brand ahead.
- Build a network. Relationships across the industry open doors for years.