Market Week

The Derek Lam Pre-Fall line came out at the end of November. The week following its display was Market Week. After every season makes its initial public release of the styles and look books are shot, there is a Market Week where all of the vendors that sell our clothing come in and choose what they are going to buy for wholesale that season. I was lucky enough to be asked by the sales team to help out with some of their Pre-Fall appointments. I have never worked in sales before and didn't have a clue what I was supposed to do during these meetings, all I knew was that big time clients were coming in and I had to look and act my best. We had gotten an office email the day before from Derek himself saying that there was a special guest coming tomorrow and that everyone needed to dress in Derek Lam clothing, (luckily I just got hooked up from sample sale). 

I came in from a Garment District run with my hands full of samples and fabrics. As I am showing the front desk my employee ID, I see Tommy Hilfiger signing into the building. I quickly realized who the special guest was! Of course, I was completely disheveled coming from the factories with all of this stuff but it was cool to see such a legend in the industry. After I gathered myself, I went to the sales team and asked what my responsibilities for the day were. I was able to help dress the models in all of the new season styles and I even got to style them and choose some of the outfits they wore! I did this for the meetings with Intermix, Shopbop and Barneys. It was really cool to see and learn how buyer meetings work. Its basically like a mini runway show! At the end of a long day of dressing, hanging and running clothes in and out of the showroom, I ended up becoming friends with the models and got to know the sales team. It was one of the best experiences I had and it really got me interested in sales.