Great clothes often begin with a feeling, a vision, a memory ... perhaps a song lyric or a scene from a classic movie. Always looking for fresh ideas, our designers and merchants visit the world's fashion and cultural capitals — New York, Paris, London, Milan and Tokyo, for example — taking in the fashion shows, shopping new stores and observing the everyday fashion of people on the street. Then they translate their ideas into drawings, patterns, swatches and color palettes.

Once concepts have been developed, it's time to turn them into real clothes. Our merchants and designers work closely together to translate inspiration into product assortments we believe our customers will want to wear.

Working from designers' drawings, our patternmakers create rough sample garments. Samples are then carefully edited into focused product assortments for our brands and our customers

Once designs are set and an assortment has been chosen, planning and distribution specialists help merchandisers decide how many units of each new style to order and to which stores those units should be sent. A plan is created for each style.

Buying plans in hand, it's now time to select the manufacturing facilities that can fulfill our production needs — and comply with our Code of Vendor Conduct. (Learn more about our process for selecting and approving factories.) Buyers work with factory owners to understand every detail of production, from materials, quantity and price to packaging and delivery.

The factory makes product samples and, using mannequins and models, we confirm the fit. Once approved, the factory begins production.

Now our Marketing team steps in to meet with the merchants and look at factory samples. Based on this preview, the team develops an appropriate marketing plan to communicate the assortment and key products to our customers. Meanwhile, the factory puts the finishing touches on the merchandise, it's tested to ensure it meets regulatory standards and we conduct final quality assurance.

Phase 4: Distribution

All merchandise, samples, plans, fixtures, props and in-store displays are packed, inspected and readied for shipment to our distribution centers. Once the product arrives at the distribution centers, every single box gets checked in. Cartons are counted, quantities are confirmed and random audits are performed.

As merchandise is added to inventory, it's designated for delivery to a specific store according to size, color and quantity. The distribution centers then move the merchandise to the appropriate stores.

Every major seasonal delivery requires a brand new floor setup in the stores. Merchandise is placed following the guidelines of our Visual Merchandising team.

Finally, our sales associates sell the merchandise to our customers. As each unit is sold, the transaction is registered for analysis by our planners and distribution analysts. These analysts monitor weekly sales trend reports and determine which stores need to be replenished with which products. Replenishment shipments typically occur one to three times per week.

At the end of each season, we assess our performance, gather customer feedback, look for improvements and begin the cycle all over again.