328. Fashion apprentice.

Since working at House of Fraser I've moved round several departments and for my final three months I was due my unpredicted fourth move; this time moving over to the branded side. After enjoying my time on the product development side, I was truly sad to leave my team behind. 

It's been a bit crazy really, lots of changes have been happening and I guess that's something you have to learn when working for a big old company. I've been learning a ridiculous amount and have grown more confident within the company, I've done everything from helping organise events at the company, speaking during trade meetings and asserting myself to suppliers. It was all very daunting but I just threw myself into it and I think that's the best way for me to learn, diving into the deep end.

But more onto the interesting stuff I had to help organise the Christmas party and man was it fun! The theme was "Great Gatsby" like every other work do. Located at an old speak easy club we had a Leonardo DiCaprio cardboard cut out which didn't totally make it til the end. It was quite a messy night and I'm pretty glad that I wasn't in work the next day.

That night my old buyer wangled a meeting with the Executive Director to showcase our SS14 collection and to try and give me some face time with the big man. Try and get myself noticed which is a pretty amazing thing as it's rare for big companies to get time with the director and all the managers. So this was my "time to shine", did I have a clue what I was doing? No. I was told to "just be yourself". A little scary to say the least as I wanted to make sure I made a good impression.

On the day I racked everything up, made the meeting room look beautiful and presentable with all the garments in order by drop and price. I also set up the mood boards and mannequins to emphasise and showcase the collection. As this was my first time presenting I only discussed one drop, pointing out the key selling points such as price points, margins, trend and style. I was focusing on not looking at my notebook and to speak naturally without speaking too fast or show that I was nervous, I think it went accordingly. My buyer proceeded to speak about the other drops and discussion would come up about any queries he had. Surprisingly he turned to me about trends, asking for my opinion to whether or not we should do a style in a certain colour. I obviously gave my honest opinion and disagreed with some of his suggestions and I hope he respected that. It was nice to know he wanted to know my opinion, coming away from the meeting I felt a little relieved but real happy to that I took the step and delved into my opportunity head strong.

Happy New Year folks.
Sannita. x

Intern at Rainbow Wave - Perks

So i've been working at Rainbow Wave for about two months now. It's been quiet still but it's slowly getting busy with new collections arriving and such. Everything is a bit of a haze at the moment, working 7 days a week is ridiculously tiring but i've got use to it (I work at Boots saturday and sundays, this wardrobe doesn't fund itself). I've had to deliver shoes for Lara Stone and Suzanne Ribeiro, walked in on photoshoots and entered Vogue house which was filled with pretty girls awaiting to be interviewed, I could feel them staring at the bags of Carven I was carrying. 

The new Tucker collection arrived and they have the most delicious coats this winter, is it bad im considering spending £300 on a coat when I'm on a weekend salary? Justifyable? I don't think so. However I was very lucky that my feet are size 37 and happen to be the sample size of shoes, as Ancient Greek Sandals old collection needed to be rid of. So all the samples had to go and I managed to nab myself two pairs and a pair for the mother, was pretty happy as they retail for about £130. Saves me buying my summer sandals, really classic and beautifully made.

 Calypso
Buy Me

The weather has been so beautiful this week and our building is incredible with this weather, we have a roof we can eat lunch and sunbath on as well as a balcony that overlooks the canal. In the afternoon our showroom manager came round and treated us with ice lollies, that's how nice working there is! So i've been trying to chase up payments all week, I'm telling you guys now, it's horrible! I've never disliked foreign people so much! They a) don't answer their phone b) don't speak English c) phone number doesn't work. It feels like i'm not getting anywhere or doing anything, so frustrating.
 However from next week I will be working in press, this is scary. The intern who is about to leave (Hannah) is preparing me for it. Although everything's crazy as a new press lady will be changing things up on Monday. And from what Hannah has taught me so far it sounds hectic and a lot of responsibility with a lot to stay on top of. Maybe it's what I finally need.

This week has been so hot and I won't lie, we've been sunbathing on the roof of our offices and chilling on the balcony. Last friday two interns left us and it was a colleagues birthday. So we had a little celebration and spend the afternnon sipping pimms, eating giant cupcakes and chilling, not a bad place to work at all!

 Me and Jessie.  
Yes I'm looking pretty trampy, I know.

The marshmellow top was actually glittery and pretty darn delicious!

Aurevoir.
Sannita.
x

Intern for Rainbow Wave - First Day

Since my last intern post, I went on a few more interviews here and there but I didn't want to jeopardise my position at Rainbow Wave as it seem liked too much of a good position to miss. After a long period of time off interning, but lots of time for partying and chilling, I was finally ready to get back into action and become a recluse work-a-holic (I work Saturdays and Sundays). 

So who are Rainbow Wave? They are sales agents, and have designers exclusively under their agency and distrubute to all the luxury shops and department stores, for example; Harvey Nichols, Harrods, Le Bon Marche. Basically the best shops in the world! Their designers include Meadham Kirchhoff, Carven, Repetto, Mario Schwab, Peter Pilotto and a load more of amazing designers! The showrooms are beautifully presented, everything to perfection, spacious, open plan, and high ceilings which are painted completely white. Each designer has their own area, quirky furniture is laid neatly within the different designer sections which is where the buyers would take their seats. The company is only made up of I would say no more than 30 people, so all close knit, young and friendly. 

 From Left to Right: Carven, Marios Schwab, Prabal Gurung and Clements Ribeiro

The first tasks I had to do were ones you would expect, such as going to the post office, taking samples to publications (Elle), moving collections from one place to another etc. It was a very laidback atmosphere yet everyone was really hardworking, which makes a great work ethic. I got to spend my lunch with a friend who lives just down the road from the office so we chilled by the river and sunbathed in the glorious, glorious sun! I spent my afternoon checking orders and invoices which was good experience as I have never done admin work before, they taught me one on one so it wasn't like I was thrown into the deep end or they were intimidating, all really nice and approachable. I'm really excited about how the rest of my internship goes and who I'll meet and the sort of things I'll be doing. Maybe I'll end up actually working for them and actually earn money? If I do, I'll be sure to write about it. 

Aurevoir.

Sannita. x

Intern for Ralph Pink

So since finishing at Browns I had a two week break after working over a month solidly. Killer but definitely worth it, I felt kind of bored after my 3rd day off so giving myself two weeks off was driving me a bit crazy. I'm back with Ralph which is so nice as I like to think of him as a good friend of mine so its pretty casual and a really nice environment to work in, plus he makes amazing food! I'm working on the same dress I was working on before which is a floor length dress made entirely out of buttons. However it's slightly more complicated than one would think as I have to evenly fade the button colours into one another. There shall be pictures once completed and when Ralph allows me to!

I also recently recieved an e-mail from Browns asking me when I was next available to do another internship with them! I was ridiculously happy and pretty pleased with myself. So i'm returning to work for them in February and this time I shall be working in the studio, I wonder what this will entail?

Check out Ralphs website and what he's being doing, its all very snazzy. He's also setting up his own website/business, with a potential job for me if all goes well. I'm sure i'll keep you updated, its all very exciting!

www.ralphpink.com/

WELCOME BACK & A FRESH NEW START from ralph pink on Vimeo.

Intern at Browns - The end of the beginning

So my duration at Browns came to an end on Friday. I have had such a good time working with them, the bridal team were so much fun and such down to earth people. It was quite the experience as I worked really closely with the owner of Browns, Caroline Burstein herself. You wouldn't expect the owner of such a prestigious fashion company to remember your name as an intern or even teach you the ways of the company, however she did and it was really nice.

Spending my days in the beautiful Browns Bride store I did things you'd expect an intern to do such as book appointments, take wedding dresses from one place to another, make dresses look presentable on the rails, serve drinks to customers and all sorts.

It was interesting to see how Browns had made such a name of themselves, as Caroline told me as I was making tea for some clients 'we want to show everyone we are the best' and that is what many of the brides to be agreed with. When I was booking appointments I'd get brides begging for appointments however due to popularity we were fully booked. Even when I said we were full we'd get them ringing out bell visiting the store to try their luck. When I left on Friday we were booked up on Saturdays until mid January which was pretty insane and most days during the week were fully booked which showed the extent of Browns Brides popularity.

However not everyday was the same, we had trunk shows on some of our days. This is where one of the designers we stock comes into our store and sets up their next collection exclusively for us. Meeting the designers was really interesting and understanding the concept and ideas of their dresses for someones big day. I got to meet Akira, a Japanese designer who focused on beautiful embellishment and detail, he was such a sweet modest man, a bit shy but so happy! Mira Zwillinger whos dresses were pheonomenal in the sense that the level of detail and hand work gone into each dress was insane yet beautifully light and etherial. Mira and her daughter were passionate people who played by their own rules, a bit wary at first they soon warmed and were really lovely people. I also met Peter Langner a german designer based in Milan who worked for Dior for many years. He was truely inspired by Dior using hidden boning in his dresses, the structured gowns held elegance that could be worn by Audrey Hepburn. He was a very focused lovely man who cared so much for his brides. Delphine Manivet was a true Parisian, so chic and utterly effortless just like the gowns she designs. She puts a blue button in the hem of each dress which has a carving of a pram in to bring the brides luck.

Akira

Mira Zwilinger

Peter Langner

Delphine Manivet

Browns is definitely a company I would like to work for in the future, they're a really close knit family company who really believe in the well being of their employees which is something I really respect. Although I didn't see all areas of the company I hope I will see more as future internships could arise.

Things I've learnt so far during my internship:

Try and always look presentable, fit in with your surroundings yet still be yourself.

Confidence is key, people will respect you so much more!

Don't complain, if there is a job you don't like, grow up and do it! Everyone's been there.

Stay focused, if you've asked to do more than one thing don't forget about the tasks you need to do.