Behind the Seams

It's really about storytelling through a fashion lens. I consider brand identity, fashion and market trends, seasonality, customer interests and demographics to create experiences that engage and delight the customer.

We're not just selling a shirt or a pair of pants. We're helping customers see an identity or lifestyle they can make their own. When it's done well, the customer doesn't just see the blouse. They see the blouse with the skirt, the belt, the shoes and the accessories. Suddenly, they can envision the entire look and how it fits into their life.

That ability to tell a story through product is what has always drawn me to this work. Fashion can communicate so much without saying a word.

Bringing an experience of this scale to life was a collaborative effort across the Fashion Office, Marketing, Visual Merchandising & Styling and many other partners. My role is to make sure the fashion shows up in the strongest possible way: the fixtures supporting the product, how the assortment lives within the space, how the mannequins are styled, and how each brand keeps its identity while connecting with the customer in that particular market.

One thing I think about a lot is geography. Styling for a New York customer can be different from styling for a customer in Los Angeles or Bentonville. You may be working with the exact same product, but how you combine and present those pieces changes with the audience, while still maintaining the integrity of the brand.

There's strategy behind it, but there's also an art to it.

That thinking begins long before the product reaches the floor. Brand placement and adjacencies are incredibly important. What brand should the customer experience first? How should they naturally move through the space? Which brands make sense beside one another?

We introduced customers to Free Assembly first, our modern American heritage brand with broad appeal. From there, the experience flows into Avia, with its athletic assortments positioned alongside the matching Free Assembly collections. Then customers discover Scoop, the more fashion-forward assortment; Scenariō, with its bohemian point of view; and accessories.

Color is another powerful tool. Each brand needs to remain distinctive, but the color stories throughout the space should complement one another so the environment feels intentional. And we identify signature pieces that immediately say what each brand stands for. With Scenariō, denim is an important part of the story, so denim was the hero in the mannequin styling.

I was helping a customer in the space when she looked around and said, "Who knew Walmart had such amazing pieces?" That was the moment I thought, this is working.

Her favorite piece was a cropped Free Assembly trench jacket, and by the time she left, she had three bags of clothing. She came in with one perception and left with another. Seeing that shift happen in real time was incredibly rewarding.

I'm grateful to have shared this with our Visual Merchandising and Enterprise Styling team and our partners across the Fashion Office and Marketing. An experience of this scale is truly a team effort.