My Internship In The Fashion Industry

Blumarine A/W 08 show in Taipei 101's 84th floor.MS YAMING multi brand show including MMM, Balenciaga, CDG, Junya Watanabe, R by 45RPM, Undercover.Stephane Dou A/W 08.Blumarine after party.Blumarine A/W 08 backstage.Jimmy Choo bags piled up before the photo shoot.

Lately we've been busy planning several new fashion projects and it reminded me of the time I did my Fashion PR internship back in Taipei. It was amazing to be involved in fashion shows and openings for brands like Maison Martin Margiela, Comme Des Garçons, Balenciaga, Jimmy Choo, Georg Jensen, Blumarine and many many more.

My internship started in the summer of 2008, with fashion PR agency STARFiSH Concept. As then a second year fashion marketing student, I knew it was crucial to take the initiative and be active. STARFiSH Concept has an impressive track record of working with international brands, so I sent my CV to them even though I knew they were not recruiting for interns. A few days later, I got a phone call from one of the directors herself, and after the interview, 2 months in the Taiwan fashion world began.

 

I started with the not so glamorous stuff. My job included photocopying, answering phone calls, sealing invitations and arranging press kits (arranging each press release in the right order and into the right envelope part, not the advanced writing press release part!). After a while, my superb photocopying and envelope sealing skills landed me more important role in the company. By the end of my internship, I was lucky that I got to see every step of the process of constructing a successful event. One minute I could be sitting in the same table and having a meeting with brands like Georg Jensen, Blumarine, and Banana Republic and the next minute ordering food for the whole production team before a show. At the events one of my jobs was to remember all the A-list guest's names and where they would be sitting on the front row, so I can greet them and take them to their seat. The next day I would be taking a £2,000 Blumarine dress to tailor to fix, guarding it with my life. Other jobs included contacting journalists, confirming RSVPs from the important guests, model castings, and handling lots and lots of the unplanned situations that would happen at an event... Well actually the agency directors would handle most of them, I would handle situations like when I accidentally pressed the emergency button in the bathroom of Georg Jensen's Taiwan headquarters.

Maison Martin Margiela rehearsal.Me and colleagues after MS YAMING show.Those two months were an amazing experience for me. The fashion industry is an extremely fast paced and brutal world, and in many ways is very different to other professions. But just like other industries, fashion has it's own cycles and it's own rules. When I started my fashion marketing and communication course at IED, I quickly realised fashion can be one of the most superficial industries, yet there's so much thought and creativity put into the strategy behind a brand, a show, or a collection. 

 

During my internship, my directors were always looking for talented people to join their team. From what i could see, the fashion marketing/ communication/ PR they (and the industry in general) were looking for people that have a knowledge of fashion, fast reactions, understand trends, tact, decent writer, and good looking or well dressed... and very few people can reach all of those levels, I wish I could have even 60% of the elements I listed. That's why it often needs a team with different strengths to execute a fashion event, and then many of these teams to create a fashion industry.

 

Looking at where I am based now, I think this is what needs to happen in Leeds. We need to grow and develop the best individuals we can. This means we can then have great teams creating amazing events and projects. If we do this often enough and more importantly well enough, we can begin to build an industry here. At Hebe we often talk about 'creating the industry we want to work in' and hopefully we will be able to contribute to and help that happen.

This is Taiwanese fashion brand Stephane Dou's A/W 08 fashion show that I was involved with.

Comments

[Ruslana]

One thing that you did successfully is to start at the bottom of the ladder and learn the trade properly. This is an important part of any business and yet so few of our younger generation are prepared to start at the bottom. Everyone wants to be top dog the moment they leave college.
By finding a couple more fashion enthusiastic people like yourself who have been through the rungs of the ladder, I am sure you will eventually make inroads in building the fashion industry in Leeds.

[STP]

Thank you very much Ruslana, I absolutely agree with experiencing every level of any industry, and other than my education, I learned the most when I did my internship. And can I make it to the top here in Leeds? I guess we can wait and see. ;)