Week One @ Freedom Rains

It's been a week now since I moved to Manhattan and started working at outerwear company Freedom Rains. I think I can safely predict that working and living in New York City will be one of the most exciting parts of my college career, which is sadly halfway over. If you had asked me upon coming to Drexel if I thought I would end up working for one of Zac Posen's companies I probably might have laughed (especially considering I started Drexel as a Film major, but look where that got me). But, here I am, working in the heart of the Garment District and living only a short walk away in a tiny studio apartment. Since moving, I've pretty much been on my own with only advice from my coworkers on navigating the city. It's definitely hard considering I've left my family, boyfriend, and close friends back in Philadelphia, but I know the independence and maturity on top of all the valuable information I'll be learning at work is immeasurable.

All that being said, I love my job. I'm currently the only design intern at Freedom Rains and I honestly feel like just another member of the design team. Like I alluded to before, Freedom Rains was founded with the intention of creating outerwear pieces for the ZAC Zac Posen ready-to-wear line. Since then, we've expanded to do private label for companies like QVC and several Canadian outerwear lines. However, it's definitely beyond exciting to work under a name that has global recognition like Zac's! This first week has been somewhat hectic considering that we're ramping up to begin working on the Fall 2016 line. All week, I sorted through fabric samples and was cutting swatches. I prepared and then delivered fabric cards to the House of Z office by Madison Avenue. By the end of the week, I was ripping out tear sheets from the latest issue of Vogue and sorting through print outs of trend forecasting spreads from WGSN so that we can start working on our mood boards later on. One of things I'm most looking forward to is seeing the start to finish design process and the evolution of the pieces that will eventually be created. Needless to say, I'm excited to see what next week brings!