At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead global wholesale strategy and drive international expansion for a luxury fashion brand.
- Company: Solace London, a leader in modern eventwear with a bold aesthetic.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, dynamic work environment, and opportunities for international travel.
- Other info: Ideal for strategic thinkers who thrive in fast-paced, entrepreneurial settings.
- Why this job: Join a pioneering brand and shape its global presence in the luxury market.
- Qualifications: 10+ years in wholesale leadership, with a proven track record in luxury womenswear.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 100000 £ per year.
Reporting to: Managing Director
Location: London
Department: Wholesale
About Solace London
Solace London has redefined modern eventwear and occasion dressing. Renowned for its bold, confident and refined aesthetic, the brand balances modern futurism with timeless minimalism. Building on an established global wholesale footprint in the world’s leading luxury stores, we are seeking a dynamic and commercially astute Head of Wholesale to spearhead our next phase of international expansion with a primary mandate to unlock and scale the North American and European markets.
Role Overview
The Head of Wholesale will serve as the strategic architect and driving force behind Solace London's global wholesale footprint. We are looking for a leader who combines high-level commercial vision with a hands-on execution style. The successful candidate will strategically manage our global sales agency team to scale international distribution whilst safeguarding our premium positioning. They will bring a sophisticated understanding of Solace London's market matrix and hold a proven track record of driving sustainable global growth.
Key Responsibilities
- Strategy & Growth: Develop and execute the company’s global wholesale strategy in clear alignment with Solace London’s brand identity and commercial objectives.
- Account Acquisition: Work closely with our global sales agency team to secure and grow selective, brand-aligned placements with premier luxury department stores, specialty stores and high-profile e-tailers.
- Partner Governance: Lead our global sales agency team through high-level negotiations, commercial terms and distribution boundaries.
- Commercial Trading Cadence: Drive an uncompromising focus on full-price sell-through by tracking and optimising performance by account, category, and region.
- Data Diagnostics: Establish a rigorous trading rhythm, including weekly sell-through reviews and monthly trade calls with major accounts.
- Agency Showroom Representation: Ensure showroom market execution and seasonal merchandise presentation perfectly reflect Solace London’s visual aesthetics.
- Financial Governance: Take end-to-end ownership of the Wholesale P&L, annual sales budgets, and departmental cost tracking to maximise profitability.
- Product Optimisation: Work closely with the internal design team during range reviews to ensure collection architectures support localised market demands.
- Brand Equity Protection: Maintain strict control over global distribution to protect the brand's premium image and prevent cross-channel cannibalisation of DTC.
Key Attributes The Candidate Must Have
- Brand Guardian with Luxury Instincts: Driven heavily by commercial targets but possessing a highly refined, uncompromising understanding of the brand's positioning, key adjacencies and selective distribution boundaries. They understand how to aggressively scale volume without over-saturating the market or undermining brand equity.
- Data-Driven & Commercially Astute: Exceptionally data-literate with the ability to look at wholesale through a forensic mathematical lens. They use live financial trackers, sell-through diagnostic tools, and markdown analytics to dictate commercial decisions.
- Entrepreneurial & Resilient: A solutions-driven leader who is highly adaptable and comfortable navigating the complex, fast-moving shifts of international retail markets.
- Impactful Presenter & Communicator: Gifted with the clarity and executive presence required to deliver concise structured financial performance analytics, market insight and multi-year growth roadmaps directly to the Founders and Managing Director.
- Strategic & Action-Oriented: They must excel in environments without rigid corporate guardrails. They are comfortable creating streamlined internal reporting structures and departmental processes from scratch.
Experience & Requirements
- 10+ years of progressive wholesale leadership experience within contemporary, premium or luxury womenswear.
- Proven Scale Track Record: Experience managing multi-million-pound portfolios and delivering sustainable double-digit annual revenue growth.
- Sophisticated Market Positioning Expertise: A deep understanding of selective distribution and the ability to sustainably scale.
- Verifiable Global Retail Network: An active warm network of senior buying contacts for tier-1 accounts globally.
- Agency Management Experience: Clear background in acting as the primary anchor for an existing global sales agent and showroom network.
- Advanced Financial Literacy: Full end-to-end P&L ownership, complex forecasting capabilities and cost budget management.
