What a P.R. Intern does

As a Design and Merchandising major, it was not expected that I would be completing a public relations internship, regardless of the fact that it is for an apparel company. I think that many other Design or Fashion majors would feel the same way. When I was first given this opportunity, I was skeptical that I would have the skills to perform on par with everyone else, as I have no training in P.R. Now that I am pretty far into this experience, I have learned that my self doubt was unnecessary, and would like to share some of the aspects of working in Public Relations for a clothing company.

I have many different job duties to perform while I am at my internship, mainly as an assistant to my supervisors who are made up of the P.R. Assistant, the P.R. Coordinators, the Manager and finally the Vice President of Public Relations in the New York showroom. This is one of my favorite aspects of the job, as I am able to interact and assist the entire P.R. staff and get a taste of what they all do. My main supervisors are the P.R. Coordinators, so one of my main job duties is to record and send out all of the samples which different publications request. The coordinators will receive emails from their contacts, requesting various samples for certain shoots. They will then pull the pieces or substitutions for them from the showroom, and then place them on a rack. Once they are pulled, it is our job to take photos, record style numbers and descriptions, and to package them to be sent out. Occasionally if it is busy in the office, they will give us the opportunity to pull the samples directly from the email, or find substitutions that we think would work well. When the garments are sent back to the showroom after the photo shoots, it is also our job to check them in by referring back to the original paperwork we recorded when they were checked out.

Aside from the checking in and out of the samples, there are other tasks that we are asked to complete based on what is going on in the office and who needs extra hands. This past week, my supervisors asked us to assist in the organization of the sample closet, by pulling out all of the samples of shoes and bags from last year and then organizing the current samples. This was not only a learning experience, but we also got to keep any of the old shoe samples that would otherwise be donated which was very rewarding. Other tasks can range from grabbing coffee, to sending out gifts for editors, or scanning through magazines to find our garments that have been used. Regardless of my initial skepticism, I have learned that the P.R. department of a clothing company can offer a lot of opportunity to a merchandising or fashion major, and is definitely a great learning experience.