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Portfolio · 2026

LaurenPeyton

Fashion Merchandising + Design. I'm a Fashion Merchandising and Design graduate with an eye for product, presentation, and the customer stories that connect the two.

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Lauren Peyton
Lauren Peyton
Merchandising✦Buying✦Trend Forecasting✦Styling✦Visual Merchandising✦Brand Storytelling✦Product Development✦
01About

Product, presentation, and the customer stories that connect them.

Original evening gown designed and constructed by Lauren Peyton, shown on a dress form

Sketch to seam: an original gown.

I approach fashion from both sides of the rack: the analytical discipline of buying and assortment planning, and the creative instinct of styling and brand storytelling. My degree in Fashion Merchandising & Design gave me the vocabulary; four hands-on roles gave me the judgment.

I think about the customer first: what they’ll reach for three seasons from now, how a floor should be merchandised so the right piece is the obvious one, and how a product’s story travels from a line sheet to a social feed to a shopping bag.

“Good merchandising is really just storytelling. My favorite part is helping someone see themselves in what’s on the rack.”

Currently Interested In

  • Buying
  • Assortment Planning
  • Merchandising
  • Product Development
  • Visual Merchandising
  • Trend Research
  • Styling
  • Brand Marketing

Seeking

Assistant Buyer, Merchandising, or Wholesale roles within a fashion organization.

02Selected Work

A portfolio built to show how I think, not just what I made.

Merchandising, buying, trend, and creative projects. Open any project for the full case study: objective, process, tools, and outcome.

Fashion Illustration & Croquis, Fashion Design
Fashion DesignView case study

Fashion Illustration & Croquis

2021-2025

Original hand-rendered croquis exploring silhouette, color, and styling, from tailored denim to eveningwear.

Technical Design & CAD Flats, Adobe Illustrator
Adobe IllustratorView case study

Technical Design & CAD Flats

2021-2025

Production-style technical flats drawn in Adobe Illustrator, the spec side of design, from blouses to outerwear.

Buying / Assortment PlanningView case study

Seasonal Assortment Planning

2022-2025

Built season-by-season assortments of styles, colorways, and quantities for four sports teams against real budgets.

Trend ForecastingView case study

Quarterly Trend Forecasting

2025-2026

Forecasted emerging styles three seasons ahead and translated them into buying and styling recommendations.

Product Development / BrandView case study

Custom Apparel Program

2021-2023

Ran a custom apparel business end to end, from design to client management to production, generating $11,400+ in a single semester.

Retail Analysis & Communication, Buying / Retail Analysis
Buying / Retail AnalysisView case study

Retail Analysis & Communication

2021-2025

A data-and-visual study connecting the numbers to a customer story, the analytical foundation behind good buying.

03Featured Case Studies

The work, in depth.

Three projects where I traced the whole arc: challenge, research, creative direction, and outcome.

Fashion Illustration & Croquis, key visual
01Fashion Design

Fashion Illustration & Croquis

Fashion Merchandising & Design, Virginia Tech

Challenge
Turn a personal point of view on proportion, color, and styling into a cohesive set of looks that could plausibly sell together.
Outcome
An illustrated collection that shows design instinct from first sketch through to a finished garment.
Read the full case study
Technical Design & CAD Flats, key visual
02Adobe Illustrator

Technical Design & CAD Flats

Fashion Merchandising & Design, Virginia Tech

Challenge
Translate garment ideas into unambiguous technical drawings a maker or factory could produce without guesswork.
Outcome
A technical-design set that pairs with the illustration work to show both the creative and production sides of design.
Read the full case study
03Buying / Assortment Planning

Seasonal Assortment Planning

Apparel Buyer & Coordinator, Virginia Tech Club Sports

Challenge
Four teams, four aesthetics, one budget discipline: each needed apparel that reflected its identity while staying inside a tight, separately tracked budget.
Outcome
Every team received an on-brand assortment delivered on time and on budget, with a repeatable process to lean on the next season.
Read the full case study
04Trend & Style

A point of view, curated. Not collected.

Seasonal color stories, trend watches, and retail observations. This is where my taste and my instinct for what's next become visible.

Curated mood and reference board of retail, travel, and lifestyle imagery
Reference boardTravel · Retail · Lifestyle

SS · Color Story

Sun-Washed Neutrals

Warm, sunbaked neutrals grounded by a single unexpected accent. Easy to merchandise and endlessly wearable.

Color story

FW · Trend Watch

Modern Heritage

Texture, tailoring, and quiet-luxury materials that make classic silhouettes feel current.

Color story

Retail · Observation

Floor Notes

A running read on what is actually selling, and how the best stores are merchandising it.

Color story
05Experience

Where the instinct was built.

Four roles across buying, merchandising, retail, and marketing. Each one sharpened a skill set I carry straight into the next.

  1. May 2026 to Present

    Marketing Coordinator

    Keller Williams Realty · California

    • Partner with 270+ agents and leadership members across teams, turning competing requests into 5+ office-wide initiatives delivered every month.
    • Own brand and visual merchandising standards across 4 digital platforms, producing 20+ marketing materials monthly and holding one consistent presentation at every customer touchpoint.
    • Source and coordinate 75+ vendors and partner content, running multiple concurrent projects against deadlines and quality standards without a missed delivery.

  2. July 2025 to April 2026

    Sales & Merchandising Associate

    Phosphene Studio · California

    • Supported daily retail operations across a 400+ piece floor, resetting 6+ merchandising and window displays a month to keep new arrivals and key stories front of house.
    • Styled 20+ customers a week, using product insight and trend-driven recommendations to build complete looks that moved units beyond the single piece they came in for.
    • Produced 8+ product-focused social posts a month, giving the store a consistent content cadence that carried brand awareness into in-store traffic.
    • Conducted quarterly trend forecasting 3 seasons in advance, delivering 4 reports a year tailored to the store's target market and used to shape what the floor bought next.

  3. Aug 2022 to May 2025

    Apparel Buyer & Coordinator

    Virginia Tech Club Sports · Blacksburg, VA

    • Led seasonal assortment planning across 6 seasonal buys, selecting apparel styles, colorways, and quantities aligned with team demand and budget parameters for 4 different sports teams.
    • Built and maintained relationships with 10+ apparel vendors, negotiating competitive pricing and quality standards so each team's budget went further every season.
    • Managed 30+ purchase orders and tracked budgets in Excel across 3 academic years, monitoring quantities, cost, and balances to close each season within its allocation.
    • Collaborated cross-functionally with finance and external partners across all 4 teams to support purchasing decisions, acting as the single point of contact between athletes, administrators, and vendors.

  4. Aug 2021 to May 2022

    Campus Manager

    Fresh Prints · Blacksburg, VA

    • Managed custom apparel sales and client orders as the sole campus operator, generating $11,400+ in revenue in a single semester.
    • Created 25+ promotional pieces and coordinated production timelines on a 2-4 week turnaround using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Canva Pro, delivering every order on schedule.
    • Managed 15+ clients over two semesters, converting roughly a third into repeat business while continuing to bring in new accounts.
06Education

The foundation.

Degree

Aug 2021 to May 2025

Bachelor of Science

Fashion Merchandising & Design

Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University

Study abroad

Jan 2024 to April 2024

Linking Lives Study Abroad

Marketing

Franklin University, Lugano, Switzerland

Relevant Coursework

  • Buying
  • Merchandising
  • Textiles
  • Fashion Forecasting
  • Visual Merchandising
  • Product Development
  • Retail Management
  • Fashion Marketing

Coursework across merchandising, design, and retail management.

07Skills & Tools

A merchandiser's toolkit, analytical and creative.

01

Merchandising

  • Assortment Planning
  • Trend Research & Forecasting
  • Budget & Purchase-Order Tracking
  • Product Selection
  • Vendor Sourcing
  • Visual Merchandising
02

Creative

  • Styling
  • Mood Boards
  • Fashion Illustration
  • Product-Focused Social Content
  • Creative Direction
  • Brand Storytelling
03

Software

  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Canva Pro
  • Microsoft Excel
  • PowerPoint
  • Adobe InDesign
04

Strengths

  • Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Customer Insight
  • Presentation
  • Organization
  • Communication
08Off the Clock

The taste behind the work.

A little of what shapes my eye when I'm not merchandising a floor.

01

Thrifting & Vintage

Sourcing one-of-a-kind pieces and reworking them into something new.

02

Travel & Study Abroad

Lugano, Switzerland 🇨🇭

03

Styling

Building looks that tell a clear, wearable story.

05

Favorite Brands

Reformation, Sézane, and Aritzia.

06

Art & Design

Mid-century design, editorial photography, and slow gallery afternoons.

09Résumé

The one-page version.

My full professional résumé: clean, print-ready, and separate from the creative portfolio. Download the PDF or view the formatted page.

View & Print

Opens in an on-page preview with a one-click download, no new tab.

Lauren Peyton résumé previewOpen résumé
10Contact

I’m open to Assistant Buyer, Merchandising, and Wholesale roles. California, USA · Open to relocation.

Emaillcpeyton24@gmail.com
LinkedInin/lauren-peyton
Instagram@laurennnpeyton