KARSHINI CHAKRABORTY
London
Summary
I am a Brand & Strategy professional who sits at the intersection of creativity, commerce, and people. I have built my career at the intersection of creative vision and commercial rigour, working across Zara, Marks & Spencer, and John Jacobs to deliver brand campaigns, in-store experiences, and omnichannel strategies that move both product and perception. Visual design is my strongest weapon but it has always been in service of something bigger: brand positioning, consumer behaviour, and revenue. What sets me apart is that I think in full ecosystems. How a campaign narrative connects to a buying decision. How a cross-functional team aligned around a shared brief delivers something none of them could have done alone. I bring people with me, I earn trust quickly, and I translate big brand vision into granular commercial execution without losing either. Currently completing my MA in Global Fashion Retailing at London College of Fashion (UAL), deepening expertise in luxury brand stewardship, global buying strategy, and consumer behaviour and ready to bring all of it to a brand that demands the very best.
Overview
5
5
years of professional experience
Work history
Photography Intern
Eternal Studios
06.2021 - 10.2021
- Coordinated end-to-end commercial fashion shoot production models, MUAs, set build, photography, and post-production with full responsibility for keeping creative and logistical elements on track. Delivered campaign-quality assets on brief, on time, and to full client sign-off across every shoot during the internship.
- Extended client content value beyond primary shoot deliverables by producing BTS and social media assets designed to sustain brand presence across digital platforms post-campaign. Drove incremental digital engagement for each client content produced during shoots generated ongoing social reach well beyond the primary campaign window.
Senior Executive, Retail Experience, Marketing
John Jacobs – Lenskart Solutions
11.2024 - 07.2025
- Tasked with unifying brand experience across a 1,757-stores where inconsistent VM was visibly suppressing footfall conversion. Architected a cohesive VM strategy with zoned product storytelling and hero placement drove an estimated 25% uplift in category conversion rate across a ₹500 Cr+ retail estate.
- Scoped and led 6 major IP collaboration campaigns (Netflix: Squid Game, Stranger Things; Warner Bros: Superman) requiring concept-to-completion builds with zero margin for brand misalignment. Directed full creative concepting, set design, vendor coordination, and in-store activation builds delivered an estimated 30% increase in dwell time and 18% sales uplift on featured SKUs vs. non-campaign periods.
- Identified chronic overruns in campaign production timelines caused by misalignment across Marketing, Merchandising, and Store Operations, inflating costs across 4 major campaign cycles. Redesigned the cross-functional briefing process and introduced phased sign-off milestones cut production lead times by 20% and reduced vendor costs by an estimated 15%, improving overall campaign ROI.
- Recognised the absence of any KPI framework to evaluate whether visual decisions were driving commercial outcomes across the store estate. Built a campaign performance system tracking conversion rate, ATV, and product pull-through insights directly informed display strategy and improved hero product sell-through across all subsequent campaign windows.
Executive, POS & Brand Communication – Customer Experience
Marks & Spencer India
02.2023 - 11.2024
- Managed POS and brand communication across 120 M&S India stores and 5 seasonal trade cycles annually, requiring global UK standards to land with precision across 15+ Indian city formats. Delivered end-to-end POS and communication execution estate-wide achieved 90%+ brand standards compliance and sustained consistent like-for-like sales growth across all seasonal windows.
- Identified a significant revenue gap caused by offline and online channels operating in silos, limiting the commercial value of physical retail footfall. Led QR code omnichannel integration across 40+ stores in partnership with the E-commerce team drove a 12% increase in digital engagement from in-store touchpoints, unlocking an incremental revenue stream from existing traffic.
- Recognised that senior leadership lacked competitive intelligence to justify VM investment decisions or benchmark performance against domestic and international peers. Produced bi-annual competitor benchmarking reports across 8+ markets directly shaped 2 major VM investment decisions and redirected budget to higher-impact formats that improved category performance rankings.
- Oversaw a PAN India vendor network of 10+ suppliers executing window and in-store POS production, where any execution failure during a seasonal rollout directly threatened brand standards and revenue. Introduced quality benchmarks and phased delivery milestones across the full vendor base achieved zero critical execution failures across every seasonal rollout window throughout the tenure.
Visual Commercial
Zara – Inditex
10.2022 - 02.2023
- Identified a store section sitting bottom 3 in the regional cluster ranking, with underperformance traced to product placement that did not reflect real customer traffic and shopping behaviour. Reworked zoning, mannequin styling, and product placement using live sales and traffic data drove an estimated 15% improvement in section conversion and moved the store up 2 positions in the regional cluster ranking within 3 months.
- Identified inconsistent application of global Zara VM standards across the store team, resulting in below-target audit scores and weakened brand experience on the shopfloor. Trained 8 colleagues on global VM protocols and store hygiene standards, creating shared ownership rather than top-down enforcement audit scores improved by an estimated 12%, with the section recognised as a best-practice example by the regional VM manager.
- Coordinated EOSS and MSS campaign rollouts high-stakes seasonal trading moments at Zara where any execution gap directly translates into missed revenue. Planned and executed full campaign rollouts end to end the store hit its seasonal sales target, with in-store execution highlighted by the store manager as a key commercial driver of the result.
- Managed daily new-arrival drops at Zara volume without deliberate placement strategy, high-ATV product gets buried and weekly section revenue suffers immediately. Prioritised fast-turning and high-margin styles in hero floor positions every drop maintained above-average weekly revenue performance across the section throughout the full tenure.
Sales Assistant Intern
Levi's
07.2022 - 09.2022
- Observed a store average UPT of 1.9, indicating the floor team was completing transactions rather than building them real revenue was being left on the table. Shifted to consultative, fit-led selling conversations across the full denim range achieved a personal UPT of 2.4 and generated an estimated ₹9,00,000 Lakhs+ in incremental revenue across the 3-month internship.
- Supported peak promotional trading weekends where high footfall only converted well when featured product remained visible, accessible, and commercially placed throughout the day. Drove VM and floor replenishment with responsiveness during high-traffic windows contributed to a 20% sales uplift in a key promotional weekend vs. the prior week baseline.
Visual Merchandising Intern
Reliance Ritu Kumar
01.2022 - 05.2022
- Owned end-to-end design and execution of the Ritu Kumar Home pop-up at Jio World Drive, Mumbai- a 1,500 sq ft immersive retail environment with sole responsibility from concept to completion. Delivered the activation on time and within budget generated an estimated ₹121 in revenue and drew press and buyer coverage at the launch for its visual storytelling.
- Developed VM styling guidelines and window display concepts for the SS22 collection across 5 sub-brands, distributed to every PAN India store location to ensure consistent launch execution. Produced monthly guidelines that landed the collection cohesively across the full store estate visual consistency directly supported press coverage and influencer engagement at the SS22 debut.
Visual Merchandising Intern
Pantaloons – Aditya Birla
12.2020 - 01.2021
- Supported VM execution across 4 sub-brands during India's peak festive retail window the single highest-revenue trading period in the calendar, where every product placement decision carries direct commercial weight. Developed planograms and VM guidelines for the festive season helped stores maximise visual impact during a period in which Pantaloons reported strong double-digit festive growth nationally.
- Executed festive mannequin and window display builds across the store estate, required to cut through peak-season competition and convert footfall at the highest rate of the year. Delivered seasonal display builds that contributed to a high-performance festive trading period in which the brand achieved double-digit revenue growth nationally.
Education
MA - Global Fashion Retailing
London College of Fashion, University of The Arts London
01/2024 - 01/2026
BDes - Fashion & Lifestyle Accessory Design (Major), Visual Merchandising (Minor)
National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT)
01/2018 - 01/2022
Skills
- Design & Creative: Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, CorelDraw, Fashion Photography & Post-Production
- Retail & Business: Brand Strategy & Positioning, Campaign Development & ROI, Consumer Behaviour Analysis, Range Planning & Buying Support, Omnichannel Retail Strategy, Stakeholder & Partner Management, Commercial Performance Analysis
Timeline
Senior Executive, Retail Experience, Marketing
John Jacobs – Lenskart Solutions
11.2024 - 07.2025
Executive, POS & Brand Communication – Customer Experience
Marks & Spencer India
02.2023 - 11.2024
Visual Commercial
Zara – Inditex
10.2022 - 02.2023
Sales Assistant Intern
Levi's
07.2022 - 09.2022
Visual Merchandising Intern
Reliance Ritu Kumar
01.2022 - 05.2022
Photography Intern
Eternal Studios
06.2021 - 10.2021
Visual Merchandising Intern
Pantaloons – Aditya Birla
12.2020 - 01.2021
MA - Global Fashion Retailing
London College of Fashion, University of The Arts London
01/2024 - 01/2026
BDes - Fashion & Lifestyle Accessory Design (Major), Visual Merchandising (Minor)
National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT)
01/2018 - 01/2022