Please introduce yourself & your company
My name is Arthur de La Brelie. I am a young professional in the world of luxury fashion. I have a bachelor’s degree in Fashion Business and a Master’s in Public Relations and Advertising.
I am fluent in 3 languages, including French and Spanish.
I have a background of 1.5 years experience working as the Assistant to the Haute Couture Manager of Elie Saab and 6 months experience working in digital and social media marketing.
On a personal level, I love art and museums, I’m always interested in learning more about different topics, my favourite place in the world is Paris (of course, my home😊) and my favourite cuisine is Lebanese… yum! My favourite past times is enjoy reading, cooking, baking and photography.
I also enjoy spending time with family and my international friends, which means I frequently travel across Europe and the Middle East
In August 2024, I started an internship with Outside the Box Recruitment as a Resourcer, which I happily passed before being offered a full-time position with the company in February 2025, where I additionally headhunt.
Outside The Box recruitment is a boutique specialist recruitment and consultancy agency that focuses on the luxury and premium sectors of fashion, retail, lifestyle, fine jewellery and beauty. We offer comprehensive recruitment and consultancy services, covering roles across retail operations, head office, design & production both nationally and internationally. Recently I was headhunting candidates in Switzerland, South France, Belgium ……..
What is your morning routine?
My morning routine begins with taking a warm shower, putting on a great outfit (I did mention love fashion!) and having a large cup of coffee and a croissant. I will then check my emails to check for anything important and make my way to the office. If it’s sunny, I tend to bike or walk to the office to get some energy and exercise in before starting the day. If I’m feeling lazy I will take the tube and if I’m feeling really lazy I will take a taxi…
Once I get to the office, I will have a morning meeting with Charmain, my manager, and set out the plan for the day and week ahead. Then the workday really begins 😊
How did you become involved with the luxury HR / fashion industry?
I’ve always loved clothes and fashion; from a very young age. Having family that worked in the industry and attending Fashion week as a young teenager really shaped my desire to work in it myself. But it’s not all fun and games … It can be hard work!
In regard to luxury fashion / lifestyle recruitment, it’s something I completely fell in unexpectedly; I saw a job advert, applied for it thinking it could be a good new aspect of the industry to explore and try out! And here I am, 1.5 years later enjoying what each day brings.
What was your journey that led to your current role?
I started off my journey by working in Haute Couture. My first real job was being the assistant to the Haute Couture Manager at Elie Saab here in London. She was heading up the department for the UK and I assisted her and shadowed her in day-to-day activities and tasks.
This involved client meetings and fittings, organising events, prepping for fashion week etc. I also slightly got involved in the PR side, helping the Head of Celebrities with Celebrity fittings and sample shipments for events. But also categorising 50+ samples per couture season, and running across London to deliver outfits.
I then decided to take a step back from working to finish my bachelor’s degree and then pursue a Master’s Degree. When that came to a close, I got a role helping out a life coach professional to market her newly released coaching book digitally via social media. That role was part time towards the end of my master’s degree so when I graduated I started searching for a full time role in the fashion industry; which is when I applied for a Resourcer position at Outside the Box Recruitment. The rest is history!
What is your main responsibility?
My main responsibility is to head hunt and source candidates for our clients and roles we work on. Whether it’s responding to applicants from our advertising or referrals or making direct approaches / headhunting.
I would then give an extensive interview approx. 1 hr dependant on their seniority and assess whether they are right for our current or specific roles.
Additionally, I work with the Marketing Director and get involved with marketing / blogs / advertising / annual marketing calendar management, drive new ideas and business development in the company.
What is your typical day/week like?
My typical week involves sourcing and headhunting candidates, interviewing and advising candidates everyday, phone calls with candidates, working on CVs, getting involved with business development, attending client meetings, heading out and going to visit candidates where we placed them to check on them, prepping candidates before their interviews, working on some marketing projects for the company…. Every week is different but these are the main responsibilities I deal with on a weekly basis.
What’s the best part of your role?
Meeting and getting to know people from all walks of life from Junior to senior, different cultures, connecting with candidates that start as strangers and by the end of the hour I know so much more about them.
There have been sooo many great candidates I have met over the past year, but one particular candidate I met, is a Senior Ladieswear Designer who worked across many different luxury brands including Haute Couture. He had such interesting stories, insights, anecdotes from his time in this industry. I find it very interesting to get to know people and hear their stories so It is a privilege to be entrusted to support them to find their next career move!
What’s the most challenging part of your job?
One of the aspects of my role is to help support / advise candidates to prepare for their interviews. So, when you take the time to help candidates in good faith ( after all we know our clients) and they choose not to listen / ignore the advice we give them and the feedback they failed the interview was because they ignored the advice !
For example informing candidates the salary on offer for the role on our first meeting and they are happy to accept the salary if offered, than during the interview with the client, they ask for more than was agreed! Or when we explain the interview needs to be attend in a formal suit and they turn up in a baseball hat and jeans – very frustrating!!!
What is / are your most memorable work moment?
Feeling nervous at my 6 month review and at the end of the meeting receiving the good news my role was extending to permanent full time Resourcer with OTB.
Placing my first candidate, it was exciting for both myself and the candidate who is still with the same company.
Attending my first client meeting, hearing about their culture fit, their future plans, their funny stories of not so good interviews… they made me feel trusted and respected to source great talent for their up and coming roles
Sooo much more……………………..
What advice would you give to anyone interested in the same profession?
If you’re interested in becoming a Resourcer in a luxury recruitment agency, my biggest advice is to be genuinely curious about people and brands. Luxury fashion / lifestyle recruitment isn’t just about filling roles, it’s about understanding a client’s culture, the story behind a brand, and what truly motivates a candidate.
Organisation and resilience are also key. You’ll speak to a lot of diverse amazing people every day, and not every conversation leads to a placement, but each conversation builds your communication and listening skills, develops your questioning skills to extract the information needed to go forward or not, industry knowledge, builds relationships & networks and your confidence. Consistency matters more than perfection!