Portia Williamson has every girl's dream job. Her position as head of design with Bingley fashion firm Damart gives her the prime opportunity to shop for a living... and she loves it!

"I'm a shopaholic," she laughs.

Portia's days as a dedicated follower of fashion began 24 years ago when she took her first tentative steps in a highly competitive industry.

One of the highlights of her student days while working for her fashion degree at Newcastle Polytechnic was creating garments for larger ladies for a spread in a glossy magazine.

"I was 20 and had to create the clothing for the shoot in London. My collection had a double page spread. It was amazing," she recalls.

Her creative flair stems from childhood. "From being a little girl I made all my doll's clothes. I've always sewed and been creative."

After graduating she worked in London for a supplier to high street giant Marks & Spencer.

Working her way up, from designing storyboards and sketches to pattern cutting and creating prototypes for ranges, has given Portia an extensive knowledge she's now using in her current role travelling the world analysing ranges and sourcing and negotiating the latest styles for Damart.

"We do a lot of analysis of the ranges and finding out what our customers want," she says.

Sourcing quality fabrics and garments at the right price is an essential element of Portia's work. When she isn't travelling the world forecasting future fashion trends, she's helping to show them off back home in Bingley.

She has recently worked on the final stages of co-ordinating her second catwalk event showcasing the company's autumn 2007 styles.

Ensuring customers are sporting the latest fashions demands Portia being one step ahead of the trends. She and her team are already working on next spring's collections.

"For spring 2008 we started mid-March so we're ten or 11 months ahead of when the customer sees it," she explains.

"You tend to live your life in six-month cycles. The whole thing starts again every six months.

"Sometimes we're working on three seasons at once, monitoring spring 2007, producing autumn 2007 and working on spring 2008.

"There is pressure and you have to be committed to it, but it's a brilliant job. And I get paid to shop!"

Portia recommends that anyone following her into a career in fashion should learn all aspects of the trade to gain a greater understanding.

"You should study and learn all the basics of garment production; how to design and how they work," she says.

She also advises students to gain some commercial experience "so you have a good head for numbers".

"It's ideal and it's a good basis to become eithrer a buyer or a designer," she adds.

For further information about courses in fashion design, contact Bradford College on (01274) 433333.