Sneak Peek of Aritzia SOHO.

"Shop Before the Shop" is the sneak peek boutique for Aritzia.

In all my excitement, I forgot to take pics of the actual boutique! 

But I did take snaps of their lovely Press Release booklet.

Sorry for the crappy pic quality, I'm using my phone's cam until I can a real one!

The Menial Works of a Fashion Intern.

Well, the days have flown by and I'm officially working at "PR Company" as an intern. The first days were very overwhelming, there was no training session- they just throw you to the wolves! The philosophy at "PR Company" is learn as you go.

What I've mostly been doing is taking care of the showroom (a showroom looks like a boutique but privy only to stylists and magazine editors) sending and receiving clothes, meticulously inputting data on their server, acting as messenger- delivering items to stylists and editors. All of this is done at URGENT speed.

I have also been underwhelmed by doing some dirt-stupid tasks. For instance, one day I had to take four hours of my time to organize magazines... The funny thing is that this is actually important to the PR Team seeing as how 80% of their work consists in getting the clients' clothing lines into the pages of the magazine and then reporting the success to the client.

No matter the task, it's still awesome to be there. To hold all these amazing designer gowns in my hands, to see every detail, is dream-like. Whenever there is a casting, models from all agencies show up. I don't have to explain to you what a treat it is to see gorgeous male models in person. I get to see the upcoming collections of certain stores before the public does; I get to see the birth of trends happen first hand.

You take the good with the bad. I just hope I get to do less menial tasks as I learn and progress with the days to come.

First Days in the City.

I've been doing a lot of walking and sight seeing, taking it all in.

It's such an amazing city!

NYC from the Top!

Grand Central Station.

SOHO.

Times Square.

Bryant Park.

Rockefeller Center.

Central Park.

How To Get A Fashion Internship in New York.

I'll start off by telling you how I landed my internship.

It was easier than I thought! For two months, I dedicated my free time to search online for internships in the fashion industry specifically in NYC. I landed on a great site called FreeFashionInternships.com where LOTS of amazing opportunities from legitimate fashion companies are offered. I sent emails with a cover letter and my resume attached to the companies I liked. I also went on the website of my favorite fashion companies (such as Net-A-Porter, Barney's, etc.) and sent e-mails to their Human Resources Department.

Within a month, I got my first internship offer at Showroom Seven. I was smart enough to keep sending my resume out to other companies even as I was in the middle of corresponding with Showroom Seven. I was already making plans to intern with them but the deal fell through because I couldn't fly out there soon enough for an interview.

 ;(

These things happen, so be ready.  None the less, a month later I saw a freshly published internship offer at FreeFashionInternships.com for a public relations company that I really liked. I emailed them immidiately and within the day I got a reply. We set up a phone interview and VOILA! My summer internship was secured.


Tips to Help YOU Land a Fashion Internship:


- Don't get overwhelmed!! Believe me, I thought working at a design house or for a fashion magazine  was reserved for people with established connections. IT'S NOT! Just calm your butt down and write thoughtful cover letters, polish that resume and start searching for opportunities.

-Set aside at least one day to dedicate to the searching of internships and sending of emails. Great sites for you to start are: FreeFashionInternships.com, Internships.com, Ed2010.com. Also, go to your favorite company's site. Go all the way to the bottom, you'll surely see a link that says "Careers" or "Work with Us" or something along those lines. If they have internships available, they'll post it there. And don't forget to check in with your school/college counselor! They may be able to share companies of your interest, where previous students have interned.

-Email the company as soon as you can! Some internship opportunities are filled at a first-come-first-serve basis, so get to it!

-In your email make sure to include when you are available- how many days per week and for how many months. The company you like might hire you just based on if you have good availability, even if you don't have much experience, and they'll be willing to help you and teach you along the way.



Those are just a few of my personal insights, if you need more help on the basics of writing cover letters and resumes... GOOGLE IT.

New Beginnings.

In three weeks I'll be starting an amazing fashion PR internship in the city of my dreams: New York City. 

Photo Credit: -somethingwicked

I've been consciously aspiring to work in the fashion industry since I was 15 years-old and the wheels are finally rolling-big time. Technically, I've been working in the fashion industry for four years now- in a privately owned boutique as a sales associate and in a nation-wide trendy chain as a visual merchandiser and accessories specialist- but as much as I have learned about clothing + commerce, all that feels so mundane compared to the opportunities that are about to come from this internship in Manhattan.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no fool. I know that this isn't going to be glamourous, air kisses all around type of opportunity. Chances are that I'll be getting coffee for some higher-up every morning. Chances are I'll be given the straight up Ugly Betty treatment. But what if every so often I get to go to an event? What if I get to help out in the back-of-house for a designer during Fashion Week? I think it'll be all worth it.

Worst. Case. Scenario.
But she turns out OK at the end.. right?
Photo Credit: uglybettycaps

In any case, I started this because I couldn't find any other fashion intern blogs. Sure, there are the ones in teen magazines' websites that give tidbits on interns backgrounds... there are general internship blogs that give tips on what to wear and how to write a cover letter... are you still awake? Yea, that's how much those blogs interest me as well.

I'm going to keep this blog as my internship diary, not just for me to laugh at later in life, but for you as well. You, who are interest in the fashion industry and wanna know what it's like to start from the bottom, from the mouth of an insider, because you haven't gotten a chance to do it for yourself- YET.

I'm keeping it anonymous because the PR firm I'll be working at is a MAJOR player in the fashion industry- not just in New York, but also in Los Angeles, Paris and Milan to name a few. This firm has it's hands on everything.. from putting on shows at Lincoln Center to grand openings of designer boutiques on 5th Avenue. In short: They're kinda a big deal and I don't wanna get fired if I call one of their clients a bitch.

I hope you stick around to read about my adventures :) and don't worry, I'll post original photographs too to make this a more personal visual story.

Oh, and if you have been an intern in the fashion industry, no matter what department, feel free to send me tips and stories about your experience. I'll take all the help I can get!

Til' next time,

The NYC Fashion Intern

(well, one of the two million of 'em)