[fiachamp]

Dated a top F21 buyer for a few years and I can say that:

1) Prototype to street was way more than 3 weeks. More like 3 months (still faster than most fashion which makes buys 6 months ahead). Zara is the main large retailer that is actually about 1 month from concept to store.

2) The quality of their men's wear was pretty good for the price.

3) They worked their corporate employees to the bone and paid them 60-70% as much as other retailers for the same job. Girlfriend ended up doubling her pay upon accepting a role with another retailer. And on her last day, they still left her a pile of work that took until 5am to finish...Greedy and unprofessional.

4) Sad to see a whole lot of honest employees lose their jobs. Although the owners of F21 had a big fall coming given the amount of greed and indifference they expressed to employees https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-fi-forever-21-factory-wo...

[tachion]

There's something I'll never understand: how come they left here a pile of work and she worked till 5 AM? Clock shows 5PM (or whatever your end of schedule is) and that's it, you're done for the day, whatever hasn't been finished couldn't clearly be, turn off the computer, clear your desk from the litter, grab your coat, bag and off you go (unless you're a heart surgeon in the middle of a surgery, that is). If they'd leave her with pile of work 2 weeks big, would she work these 2 weeks for free? What makes 'a night' OK but '2 weeks' not? By the sound of it it doesn't seem like she had no other options, being already offered way better job (I hope!). This is teaching companies to mistreat people, by accepting things like that.

[equalunique]

Maybe her friendship with her coworkers motivated her to do her best to leave things in a semi-workable state for the team. It could be that she was uniquely capable in her role, which is why she felt responsible for completing certain work that would lead others to struggle even more. Capability as well as the attitude that accompanies it may explain why her pay doubled at the new job. For several people I know and myself, this seems to be the most prominent reason for staying past the committed time. Twelve hours after closing time is extreme, though.

[donkeyd]

> Prototype to street was way more than 3 weeks. More like 3 months (still faster than most fashion which makes buys 6 months ahead).

Those are different things, right? From what I understand, Apple works on a phone for about 3 years, but they cycle every year. You can have multiple 'prototype to street' cycles running that deliver a new collection every 3 weeks. I'm not sure that's how it works in fast fashion, but I wouldn't be surprised if it does.

[mikestew]

My understanding of the difference is that Apple doesn't have "Phone Fashion Week" defining what their phones should look like this year. They get to make that decision on their own. As opposed to someplace like Forever 21, where Fashion Week comes and says, "ready...go!" and now they have to go make clothing.

The caveat is that this is just what I read. I wear 501s and a non-print shirt (yes, sadly, it's sometimes black) to the office every day, what do I know?

[Arnt]

Oh, sorry, perhaps fashion cycle is the wrong term. I meant the time a particular garment typically stays in the shop at full price. What's the industry term for that period?