Second Time's a Charm

Today I am beginning my third week interning with the visual merchandising team for Tommy Hilfiger. After previously completing my co-op last year in public relations in a major fashion house, I realized I needed to expose myself to a more creative department of the fashion industry...and I could not be happier with my decision! I have been working at Gap for two years helping with visuals, so it is extremely interesting to see the back-end perspective that goes into visual merchandising.

I cannot believe the amount that I have already learned and have been exposed to just in my first two weeks I have completed. During my first week of my internship, I began working on a still shoot that would be used in the directives that are sent out to stores around the country, instructing them of the garments that should be merchandised together. I started working on this project with just steaming for the stylist, and progressed to having the responsibility of styling the garments. It was the most incredible feeling when the stylist said in amazement to me, "You've never done this before?! It looks like you've found your calling!"

Moving onto my second week at Tommy, I was told that I would have to travel to Secaucus, NJ for another still shoot, but this time would involve mannequins. The first day was filled with prepping all the clothing by organizing looks and steaming individual pieces. The following day consisted of helping dress and undress mannequins for the stylists. For my last day of week 2, I returned to work back in Manhattan and was assigned a new type of work. I began working in InDesign to edit the placement, sizing, text, and resolution of the CADs and style information in the merchandising directives for children's Tommy Hilfiger store locations. As if I was not excited enough to have the responsibility of editing, I was next assigned to work in the visual merchandising program, Visual Retailing, where I actually had to work with store design and product placement! It is so incredible to be using skill sets that I have learned within my studies in Drexel's D&M program, and even better that my supervisor is surprised that I already know how to use these programs! I am so anxious to see what this week has in store for me!!

Chelsea