Behind every fashion product, collection, or storefront, there’s an ambitious designer, buyer, merchandise planner, or wholesale or e-commerce manager who has spent years arming themselves with a unique set of skills. And for every one of these fashion industry experts, there’s an inspiring career journey.
In Style Arcade’s Fashion Career Series, we leverage our passionate network to go beneath the glamour of fashion’s most sought-after roles—and take a seat with the people whose hard work and dedication are shaping the future of retail.
Meet Jalda Azad, General Manager at Australia’s iconic denim brand, JAG. From her time at industry juggernauts like Zalando in Berlin to The Iconic in Sydney, Jalda offers her insights into how brands can remain relevant in a saturated market, the key qualities needed to be a great buyer and planner, and the main differences between the European and Australian fashion consumer.
You’ve held roles at some of fashion’s most recognisable names. What drew you to fashion and merchandising to begin with?
I’ve always loved numbers; I loved math. I was very analytical in school and uni, but I never knew what I wanted to do afterwards, so I studied economics to keep my options open. Then, completely by coincidence, I ended up doing an internship at an e-commerce company, very similar to Zalando or The Iconic, just on a much smaller scale. That’s where I first discovered that this whole fashion world even existed.
I was merchandising the website, managing the back-end, uploading, and upselling products. It gave me my first glimpse into that world. Years later, I bumped into a product developer I’d met during another role, who was working at Zalando. She asked, “Are you looking for a job? I'm looking for a new assistant buyer. Can you come in for an interview next week?”
The following week, I met the head of buying, and was hired on the spot. Two weeks later, I started my very first real job as an assistant buyer in branded menswear. And I loved it. I loved menswear because it was so analytical.
What pivotal moments in your career have led you to where you are today?
I’ve had a lot of amazing managers throughout my career. Starting in menswear, learning the foundations, about scale, about super fast growth, the relationship with the brands. That was all super important for where I am today.
If I had to pick one defining moment, it would be when I moved from branded buying into vertical or own-brand buying — and not even by choice! Having to learn everything from scratch, from lead times to how the product is designed and created, and getting to know the people involved. It was a huge shift.
What excited me most was the end-to-end control. The speed to market, the ability to be more creative, and not necessarily put my own stamp on things, but really drive the future of the brand, its vision, and its strategy. That was what really excited me. What I took on was two brands in women's apparel, and we turned it into a 14-strong brand business across all categories.
"What I took on was two brands in women's apparel, and we turned it into a 14-strong brand business across all categories."
How has each chapter of your career shaped your leadership style?
I’ve learned a lot throughout my journey, but I don't believe that it was necessarily due to the size of the business. What I do believe, though, is that bigger businesses fast-tracked my learning because I had a lot more opportunities. The bigger the team is, the more conversations you have, and the more tough conversations you have. The more brands you manage, the more suppliers you manage, the more opportunities you have to do it than in a small brand.
In terms of leadership style, I think it’s about learning quickly to make hard decisions, have difficult conversations, and learning at pace. And while some conversations never get easier, you just get better at dealing with them. I'm very transparent, very direct, and honest. I have a high expectation of my team, and you can really see it when they pull together and work best together. And seeing them be successful, I believe, is the most rewarding part of it.
From Zalando to The Iconic, what market differences or consumer preferences did you have to adjust to coming from Europe to Australia?
Europe, or especially Germany, and Berlin, is so androgynous for women. The Berlin uniform was a denim leather jacket and a wool coat; super androgynous, minimal makeup, everyone's very natural. And then I moved to Sydney, and I was shocked! I moved in the middle of summer in January, and everyone was in loud prints and color and plunging neckline dresses.
The climate in Germany, in terms of travel or resort, is so short. If you're lucky, you get a few hot weeks in summer. So people are not investing as much into, let's say, dresses or resort wear as they would here.
The Australian consumer is a lot more feminine overall. Less serious. Loves color, loves natural fabrications. Buying into that softness is so much more important here. What stands out is the casualness, especially for dressing up and going out, which is very different. Thinking of the reverse seasonality when you dress up in Europe for Christmas and New Year's, the velvets and the heavy sequins and the sparkles, they don't really translate here.
JAG has been in Australia since the 1970s. How do you ensure the brand remains relevant today?
That's something we talk about a lot. JAG was founded in 1972 on Chapel Street by Adele Palmer, and it was the denim brand. It was the brand that everyone wanted to wear and aspired to wear.
APG&CO acquired it in 2014, 11 years ago, and has since been in the process of relaunching it and making it what it used to be. I think that part matters a lot in terms of how you ensure the brand remains relevant today; how to respect the heritage of the brand whilst modernizing it.
We believe JAG should lead with the base of denim. When we relaunched our denim program, we brought five new fits in to make the brand more modern and more relevant to what the customer wants today. Every piece has something special about it. A top stitch, a detail, an embroidery. Just something that sets it apart from the market.
What do you think makes a retailer or fashion brand stand out in today’s saturated market?
It’s definitely about authenticity and brand story. We’re very lucky to have a heritage brand you can talk about so much. But even for new brands, having a very clear brand identity and a unique point of view really makes a difference. Customers can tell if a brand is confused, or if it’s clear and truly aligned with what it stands for.
Today, it’s even more important for customers to feel like they’re part of the brand, and that they’re buying into the story and the feeling. If the customer comes online, does the omnichannel experience match what she gets in-store? Does it still feel like the same brand? Does the marketing language, the influencers we choose, our socials, all align and go hand-in-hand?
I also really believe it’s product first. Always. I come from product, but even aside from that, the best marketing can’t sell a bad product. And even if it does, the customer won’t return. So for me, it’s product first.
"...having a very clear brand identity and a unique point of view... Customers can tell if a brand is confused, or if it’s clear and truly aligned with what it stands for."
What qualities do you look for when hiring a buyer or merchandiser?
On the buying side, being analytical is definitely important; it’s the base, the foundation. But it has to be layered with an eye for product, a sense of trend and market, and a bit of gut feel.
You can teach numbers to an extent, you can teach someone to be analytical enough for buying (not to be a planner), and to read Style Arcade or interpret spreadsheets if they’re set up correctly. But having that clear vision and instinct for product, I don’t think you can teach that. I’ve seen it so many times in my career; there’s the will, but the eye for product isn’t there.
For merchandise planners, analytical skills are non-negotiable. The best planners I've ever worked with are the ones that understand product and don't just rely on the numbers, because whilst you can drill into the data, just the numbers are not going to tell you the full story of why your skirts are down on the year.
Being curious and hungry to learn is crucial in both roles. It’s easy to get lost in the numbers, but you need to know when to stop and make a decison.
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve ever received?
I think it's really, really cliché to say it, but I do think it is, “get comfortable being uncomfortable”.
The times in my career I learned the most or had the biggest wins were always the moments where I either felt really uncomfortable, and had to convince myself to take the chance or at least give it a go. You can always decide it's not right for you, but you will never know until you try it.
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