Week 6: Spring/Summer Preview

This week was the Spring/Summer 2016 Preview. It took place in a penthouse studio in midtown. We spent all day Monday at the studio setting up for the event. We were steaming and hanging all of the clothes on the racks. I also assisted the accessories team in designing the set up. It was an extremely long day, but I was really excited to see how it would look in the end. On Tuesday and Wednesday, I had to wake up extra early to go and help the teams set up and get ready. Editors started arriving at 8:45 am to look at the samples. We were showing Spring/Summer clothes, sunglasses, shoes, watches, etc. As editors arrived, it was my job to greet them and direct them to where they needed to go. We offered coffee, juice, and mini donuts for everyone to enjoy. This was an amazing hands-on experience for me because I was able to participate in everything that my bosses did. I was glad to help and be able to be there for this amazing event!

week 6

This week was interesting and fun. This week, my boss assigned me to create several flat layouts. She allowed me get creative and create layouts according to my own taste and style.  I was allowed to use plain black/ white background and arrange the jewelry or use images that I chose to set as a background. So I picked images from Tumblr and Pinterest and arranged the images in the background of where I placed the Jewelry. I found that from my past class, Presentation Technology, it was easier to set up how I wanted the images. This project was very similar to all the boards we created in that class. The way of arrangement was very important to the viewer, so I was able to incorporate the skills I learned in that class to this assignment.

Weeks 5 & 6

An update on the Boutique: definitely happening! Products have been purchased from vendors and showrooms in New York, signs and fixtures are being installed tomorrow, and promotional giveaways   are on their way to the office. Blood sweat and tears is bringing this boutique to life but happening it is! Currently, I'm working on a promotional card to be handed out to all of our clients as advertising for the boutique, a blog about facial peels (I got one for free!), and in-store signage for the boutique.

The big thing that I worked on last week though was our main event of the season: Bellevue Gets Engaged. It's a bridal fashion show held by Nicole Miller (check out Sydney's blog post for more on their role!) and lots of different companies have booths and giveaways there to attract the business of brides-to-be. The Salon & Spa had a huge booth there --- right next to an amazing seafood one --- as we cater to brides and bridal parties for hair and makeup and did all of that for the show. With everyone stopping by the rent went very quickly, and it was a ton of fun. Yes it was also a ton of work, but looking at gorgeous engagement rings and schmoozing with ladies on cloud 9 is always a good time. Of course, the dresses too were spectacular.

Bellevue Gets Engaged was such a fun time and I'm looking forward to the next fashion show we're a part of!

I'm having difficulty with adding pictures now but they'll be on here tomorrow morning, also all pictures from BGE can be found on the Salon & Spa Facebook page!

Bellevue Gets Engaged

These past two weeks have been pretty busy because there were two big events for Nicole Miller. Last week was the XIX Most Fashionable Women event that I talked about. The other event, Bellevue Gets Engaged, was this past Sunday for the Nicole Miller bridal line. I was there the entire day starting at 9AM, preparing for the show and getting everything set up. I helped with the goody bags, putting stuff in them and then organizing all of them in a room, and then helped getting everything else ready. There were a lot of vendors there such as cake and bakery vendors, photographers, and whatever else a couple needs for a wedding. Finally at 2PM the fashion show began and right before it started one of the employees asked me to sit VIP front row because there was an extra seat and I was in Nicole Miller clothes. It was such an awesome opportunity to be able to sit front row and watch the show. The dresses were beautiful, bride and bridesmaids dresses, and I was so grateful to be a part of this entire event! It's pretty cool to say that I helped for an event from start to finish.

Yesterday I was back in the office and got caught up on my work, and also had to steam all of the clothes from the event that came back to the Manayunk store. I definitely know that I like working events more than being in an office but I'm glad I'm getting experience on both sides of this business. 

Back to Back Events

This was an extremely eventful week at the office for everyone. I felt like there were events every day of the week, with more than one at a time. Wednesday I was sent on a mission to find wigs that resembled the New York Met's pitchers for one of our clients who was giving away costumes of the players. It was probably the most random request I've ever been asked of, but after running in and out of what felt like 30 different stores, I found a few wigs that worked. At the end of the week, the woman who had asked me to do that ran up to me and told me that the wigs I found and the story I was helping made the New York Post, so that felt like a huge accomplishment. Overall, Wednesday was just the busiest day of running around and helping as many people as I could.
On Thursday, I was asked to come in earlier than usual to the office to help for an Undies.com event, and to stay late and travel to the Time Warner building to help work a Sugarfina event. Although it felt like the longest day of my life, both events were a lot of fun! For the first event I kind of worked as a bartender, packing people gifts of the panties and bras they picked out from the "bar". It was fun to interact with all the editors and get to hear more about this new client of ours. I even got to take some free merchandise home with me afterwards. At around 3:00 pm, I followed an account executive from the lifestyle team to the Sugarfina event at the Time Warner building. I would be helping to set up goody bags of the candy, and check people in as they came to the event. It was the launch party for the first NY Sugarfina location, and it looked amazing. It was a glorified kiosk that was seen immediately when entering the building. I worked with a lot of the employees at ABPR, and was able to get to know them better, which was great. Waiters were walking around serving the guests champagne and gummy bears with 24K gold flakes in them, and now I can say that I've eaten gold before...never felt so fancy. The event perfectly fit the type of brand the company aims to be, and I was happy I was able to attend the private event that was such a big step for the company. Even though it was the longest day of co-op so far, I feel like I got so much out of it and can't wait to see what the next few months bring!

Week 5 @ Freedom Rains

I really can't believe that a month has gone by! Just like last week, everyone is really working hard to finalize all the designs and sourcing for Fall '16. We're hoping to complete everything by the first week of November that way we can put prototypes into production. The designers finally had sketches ready, so this week I got to edit those and create tech packs to be sent out to our factories. Since we are obviously unable to create each piece by hand we need tech packs to act as instructions for our factories. Initially, they contain detailed sketches of the garment, a list of materials being used (including fabrics, trims, fusibles, etc), specific construction and sewing details, and measurements. It's a lot of work and everything has to be very precise or else our coats could come out looking completely wonky!

While we're mainly working on next fall right now, we also can't forget about Spring '16. We had another fitting this week to finalize the measurements for some of the Spring coats. Even though we're a contemporary line, I think it's great that we try to fit for the average woman and we're always adjusting to make sure everything is as perfect as possible. Getting the fit and silhouette right are definitely vital when thinking about our different customers. Not everyone is a 5'9, size 2 model who wants to wear a super fitted coat. We need to have something for everyone and cater to different body shapes. Furthermore, I also got to accompany the lead designer while running some errands to our pattern maker and some of our textile manufacturers' offices. I really appreciate that she values my opinion and we've been bonding over our shared Drexel experiences since she's an alumni! I also just feel like I'm learn a lot from watching her work and being able to sit in on meetings with her. I also found out this week that a color palette I developed for a line of packable raincoats at Saks Fifth Avenue while the designers were away in Europe got approved! Even though it seems kind of nerdy, I still think it's really cool that they liked the colors I chose for them.

To top off this week, my Mum came down for the day on Friday and we were able to go shop our showroom for coats. While the company is giving me one for free, I couldn't resist buying two more because my discount is so good! I really can't wait to wear them this winter. Of course, my Mum was also excited to see where I work and meet everyone. And speaking of Mom's, Zac Posen's own Mom came in earlier this week to pick out coats for herself! I was surprised at how normal she was considering her son is so fabulous (we even found that she takes the bus around New York). It was really cool to meet her though and she even welcomed me into the House of Z family!

I feel bad that I can't take a lot of pictures at work, so here's a photo of the view from my rooftop! Living in Manhattan really goes hand in hand with my co-op experience. I've gotten to do a lot of exploring and I feel more and more like a New Yorker everyday.

Week 5: Preparing for Spring Preview

This week at Bollare consisted of preparing for next week's preview. The past three days have been very busy and pretty stressful. The fashion team and I have been steaming and packing away all spring samples in the showroom bring to the preview. We are constantly getting in new shipments that need to be sorted through to see what will be shown at the preview. It is a great experience to get to see how such amazing events like these are prepared for. The events team has also been working extremely hard to plan the entire two days by ordering decorations and food. We will be having pastries and refreshments, such as donuts, for the editors coming to the event. The event will take place on Monday and Tuesday of next week. I'm very excited to be preparing for it and attending it. I am very appreciative to be able to play such a large role in helping out with the event!