Office manager roles vary depending on the size of the business they work for, in the case of smaller designer businesses, office managers would wear many hats in their day to day work. Operations and administration are key for an office manager, and they will usually work with all the teams across the office/studio. 

Tasks can vary from being to welcoming face at reception and answering the phones, organising the stationery and office supply orders for the team, through to ad hoc HR admin and team activities. They may be called upon to book travel for the design team, managing the booking of freelancers for the studio or collating information for accountants. Office managers need to have exceptional organisational skills as they will work across many tasks at once, as well as strong communication skills as they are often then first point of call for many questions across the business. 

Small fashion businesses are fast paced environments, and will usually require a lot of sample tracking, assisting with interns and lending a helping hand when needed in the lead up to a catwalk show. Office managers are the oil that keeps the machine of the business running smoothly at all times. 

In this role the office manager gets an insight into all aspects of running a fashion business and could be a springboard to many other roles in the industry - studio management, PR and events, executive PA or more senior management roles.


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