MERCHANDISING
DFS (LVMH)
The luxury travel retailer has a rich and successful history of catering to consumers in Europe, N. America and Asia. While DFS features an impressive luxury matrix housed in “Gallerias” with striking architecture, the retailer’s overweight focus on leather goods, best-sellers and duty-free pricing left room to improve its fashion credibility and update its offer.
Mui was recruited to launch and grow new multi-brand concepts featuring ready-to-wear, shoe salons, and accessories, while elevating the assortments in branded boutiques with more fashion-forward styles. This required leadership and partnership in the overhaul of merchandise buying/planning processes and metrics.
While at DFS, Mui and the team worked from the ground up merchandising and planning the exciting relaunch of the iconic, historic Paris department store La Samaritaine, slated to launch in 2021-22.
LANE CRAWFORD
Asia’s iconic fashion-forward department store has a reputation for strong curation, engaging pop-ups/exclusives and for introducing the industry’s most directional labels to consumers across Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, and Chengdu.
As GMM and the lead merchant for fashion, Mui worked with the executive team in key priorities: differentiating the buys and tailoring assortments to each market; overhauling the OTB planning and investment strategy towards underfunded top-performing brands and categories, and mentoring and grooming a team of dynamic, young creative buyers with more disciplined, financial acumen.
While at Lane Crawford, Mui’s team launched a highly successful curated Ski multi-brand, numerous exclusive capsules with leading designers, introduced the next generation of social-media/street-style-driven contemporary women’s wear brands, as well as a slew of specially-designed pop-ups with Prada, Fendi, Loewe, among others.
HUDSON’S BAY
North America’s oldest company and department store, founded in 1670, had been in the midst of a major revitalization and transformation under CEO Bonnie Brooks, with significant CAPEX investment, overhaul and elevation of its merchandising offer.
As VP, Men’s Fashion, Mui worked closely with the GMM in introducing over 50 new designer and contemporary brands, the reflow of the floors of the flagships in Toronto and Vancouver, as well as launching and helping fund the first ever men’s only catalogues and campaigns. In spearheading and leading the team’s presence and participation at the European collections and markets (PITTI), he helped elevate the image of Hudson’s Bay beyond its mid-tier positioning.
In a span of five years, the men’s business at Hudson’s Bay doubled due to the revitalization of brands, assortments and AUR growth.
