Well-Traveled in the Big Apple

Weekly Entries About the "Greatest City in the World"

[lifeinthebigapple1689]

My Study Tour Experience

Upon my first day in my study tour, my career goals and aspirations were to be a cosmetic buyer for a well-known company, such as Estee Lauder, LOreal, etc.. Due to this career goal, I had an interest in the cosmetic industry and working in it upon my graduation from Kent State University. After our going to all of my study tour classes and learning about new brands/companies, my career goals to be a cosmetic buyer have not changed but, there is now a job that I am interested in that is within the fashion industry. This other job is to be a stylist within a bridal boutique, especially with Jenny Yoo. This new job interest arises after going to Jenny Yoo Collection, since not only did I like the brand and what they stood for, they were also the speakers that I enjoyed the most. The thing that Jenny Yoo said that influenced me the most had to deal with the team’s store manager and stylists, Chelsea, whose role intrigued me the most because not only did she get to work with brides and their parties on a daily basis, she also got to the manage the showroom and work with the other stylists on clientele lists, rearranging the showroom, etc. Even though Chelsea, had her role as a stylist on the Jenny Yoo team, she did not have a background in styling, to begin with. Due to this, she was able to teach herself on the job and use her marketing major to the best of her abilities, especially since she was interacting with customers and had to know Jenny Yoo’s specific target market to cater to their needs. Though Chelsea did not need to have a major that was fashion specific and allowed her to implement her marketing major instead, I found that Chelsea explaining her role to my class to be intriguing to me. Additionally, the fact that I got to have a one-on-one with Chelsea and get to hear what she does on a daily basis as a stylist refreshing because it helped me realized that I still have a desire to work in sales and interact with customers. From this meeting with Jenny Yoo Collection, you could say that this appointment made the biggest impact on me professionally because it made me want to pursue a career path that wasn’t cosmetic based or focused. Overall, I think the biggest takeaway or knowledge that I gained that will be able to use during my job search is to not cut myself off from career paths period and learn to take any job opportunity that presents itself to me and will make me feel happy to have and it be with a company that I’m passionate about. Moreover, I find that if you don’t have any interest or passion for a prospective company, then it will be hard to go to work on a daily basis and do work to the best of your abilities.

[lifeinthebigapple1689]

Week 14 - LOFT

Part 1 - Prior Knowledge of LOFT:

Before heading to LOFT, I had some prior knowledge of the brand since this is a brand I see throughout my mall and several outlet locations. While I knew about this brand, I did not know about the missions behind this company. After conducting some research on their website, I found that LOFT tries to create modern, feminine clothing that is versatile for a wide range of women. Additionally, the clothing behind the brand has one common style goal in mind, to allow women to look and feel confident, no matter what time/day it is. Overall, LOFT tries to make getting dressed effortless for their consumers and creates styles for women that reflect the world she lives in on a daily basis.

Part 2 - Observations During LOFT Q&A:

During our tour of LOFT, we got to have a brief Q&A session with several members of the LOFT team. During this time, the LOFT team sat down with us and gave us some useful information about working in retail. The main piece of advice that ended up sticking with me was their advice about trying to branch off into a different section of the fashion industry and test it out to see if you really enjoy the work involved on a daily basis. This advice stuck with me because while most of us are merchandising students and want to be buyers, they told us it’s best to try other departments within fashion like textile or CAD because then we get a general feel of what everyone’s jobs are like and we can really test our own technical skills in the field. Because of this advice, I now have a better understanding of why it is important to look into other departments of the fashion industry and try to see if you can build upon your basic skills.

Part 3 - My Favorite Advice From The LOFT Team:

While I enjoyed the Q&A session with LOFT, there was one piece of advice that really stood out to me during this time. The piece of advice that really resonated with me was about how when you go into this industry, you should make sure that you’re going to work for a company that you truly care about because if you don’t, it will be hard to want to go to work every day and enjoy the work you’re already doing. I resonated with this piece of advice because people should make sure they are working for a company that they truly like shopping at or learning more about. Furthermore, I find that this working for a company I like is important to me because if I am working for a company where I don’t agree with their mission or particularly want to ever buy their clothing, it will be hard for me to buy clothing for said company or even take my job seriously. From these points, I really resonated with the LOFT teams advice on working for a company you like and making sure that the company will be a right fit for you as your first job within the fashion industry after we graduate college.

[lifeinthebigapple1689]

Week 13 - Raj Overseas

Part 1 - Prior Knowledge of Raj Overseas:

Before heading to Raj Overseas for a tour of their showroom, I had no idea what this company was and what they sold. After looking through their website, I learned that Raj Overseas as a company creates rugs and other floor furnishings for some large retailers like Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, etc. Furthermore, Raj Overseas functions as a large family of traditional craftsman that will ensure that the dignity and respect of skilled craftsmanship are guaranteed within each of their floor furnishings for their consumers. Overall, Raj Overseas tries to stay consistent to the organization’s vision of providing quality craftsmanship to their consumers with every textile they have by continuing to be innovative, fair trade certified, and socially compliant for their partners such as Target, West Elm, etc.

Part 2 - Observations During Raj Overseas Visit:

While at Raj Overseas, we got to meet Shelley Goldberg, the VP of Design & Marketing for the company. When we got to meet with Shelley, she was able to talk to us about how she started off as a fashion design major in college and was able to go from that specialty and switch over to her passions for prints and textiles and create her own business from scratch. For her, she said that transitioning over from a design major to print and textiles were very easy since her major allowed her to still learn how to do CADs and a lot of processes that design students use when making prints and other textiles. Shelley stated the major challenge she struggled with was finding the factory space and workers who would go on to turn her designs into nicely woven floor furnishings. To find this solution, however, Shelley was able to partner with a factory and textile makers in India who had their workers work with a fair wage, was ethically sourced, and even allowed for Shelley to come and visit once every year.

Part 3 - My Favorite Advice From Shelley Goldberg:

Before we left Raj Overseas, Shelley said something that resonated with me. What Shelley said that resonated with me was how if you ’re passionate about doing something, you have to see it through and work hard to achieve the dream no matter how much you want to give up along the way. This advice really resonated with me because I am currently working to start my career in the beauty industry, which has been a passion of mine for years and have an internship with a major beauty company. Additionally, this advice reps read with me because while I may achieve a passion of mine sooner than I expected, I have to continue to bring my A game every day and prove to myself and my possible employer that my true passion is being in cosmetics working as a buyer and continue to go the extra mile every day for them. Due to these reasons, this is why this piece of advice from Shelley really resonated with me.

[lifeinthebigapple1689]

Week 12 - Jenny Yoo Collection

Part 1 - Prior Knowledge of Jenny Yoo Collection:

Before heading to Jenny Yoo Collection for a tour of their showroom and office space, I only knew that Jenny Yoo was a bridal collection with a showroom in New York City. After conducting research on their website though, I discovered not only did she make dresses for brides, she also made dresses for bridesmaids. Additionally, Jenny Yoo Collection showroom operated by appointment only which isn’t too surprising since the company is in the Bridal Industry and has a small showroom at the moment that can only hold a few bridal parties at a time for their consultations. Moving on, another thing I found intriguing about this company from my research is that Jenny Yoo Collection likes to incorporate rich, luxurious fabrics to create a refined aesthetic for their customers by making every detail on their dresses playful and whimsical for every bride who buys one of their gowns. Overall, I find that Jenny Yoo Collection really tries to give every bride and their party a personalized experience in their showroom while delivering beautiful quality dresses that they can keep, after their wedding day, for years to come.

Part 2 - Observations During Jenny Yoo Collection Q&A:

Once sitting down and meeting with the team behind the Jenny Yoo Collection, we got to learn about each team members individual roles in the showroom/company. The one role that intrigued me the most was Jenny Yoo team member Chelsea, who worked as the showroom stylist and showroom manager. When Chelsea described her role on the team, I was intrigued by her role because not only did she get to work with brides and their parties on a daily basis, she also got to the manage the showroom and work with the other stylists on clientele lists, rearranging the showroom, etc. When thinking about how she got started there, she told our class that actually didn’t major in fashion merchandising to get her role, she had a major in marketing and worked with the company that would be involved with helping to launch the Jenny Yoo Collection, which helped her find her role in the showroom/company. Because of this, I enjoyed learning about Chelsea’s role in the store while realizing that you should not shut yourself off from other job opportunities just because it may or may not be within the industry or avenue of the industry you wanted to initially work in.

Part 3 - My Favorite Advice From The Jenny Yoo Collection Team:

After the Q&A session with the Jenny Yoo Collection team, I actually got to talk one-on-one with Chelsea about her role in the company and the aspects of her job on a daily basis, since I have an interest with working in a showroom, especially if it is in Bridal. For me, I got to ask Chelsea questions about the way the appointments work, what questions does she usually ask brides after trying on dresses or what questions they ask her on a regular basis, and how she is able to convince brides to buy the dresses they try on from the Jenny Yoo Collection. While I enjoyed hearing all of Chelsea’s answers, the one answer I enjoyed hearing the most and took away from our one-on-one was how she was able to get brides to buy Jenny’s dresses. The answer to this question was that whether the bride is unsure what dress to buy, she usually will ask them to bring in inspiration or she will create a mood board for the bride, depending on any preferences she specified before the appointment. I enjoyed taking away this little bit of information because while Chelsea is able to help out a bride find her wedding dress, Chelsea gets to use her creative outlet on the job by being able to implement mood boards for guests during their consultations. Additionally, I enjoyed hearing this answer because Chelsea found a way to grab the brides attention to Jenny Yoo’s dresses by creating a personalized atmosphere for her clients and their parties. Because of this response and getting to have a one-on-one with Chelsea about managing a showroom, I would love to explore the option of becoming a stylist for a showroom as a potential first job after graduating from college.

[lifeinthebigapple1689]

Week 11 - Dover Street Market

Part 1 - Knowledge of Dover Street Market:

For my independent study this week, I chose to head to Dover Street Market. Before heading to the market, I did not know what to expect when I got inside, once I was there though, I walked into eight floors of luxury brands/apparel. When researching Dover Street Market, I learned that this market opened up in 2013 in New York City and their target customers usually come from high-income homes or have a high income and are willing to spend thousands of dollars on well-known luxury brands like Gucci and Supreme or by from newer, less-known luxury brands like Simone Rocha or Moncler Genius. Additionally, I learned that the market’s retail philosophy is built around creating a retail space that sells and celebrates creativity and innovation while combining the likes of the luxury market with urban streetwear and ignoring regular retail conventions and defying against conformity. Overall, what makes Dover Street Market so special is that the market tries to create a space of chaos, while also being intriguing and visually beautiful to consumers at the same time.

Part 2 - Observations During Store Experience:

When going through the basement to the seventh floor (eight floors total) of the Market, I made a stopped into one of the shops located at the top of the market, Gucci. When I was inside Gucci, I found this Gucci store to be unique and special that the other Gucci stores located in the city. I felt this way because when walking into the Gucci store, it screams Gucci whether it was through the orange suede-like wall with gold studded trim or the big display case of Gucci products in the middle of the store or the mannequins displayed in the latest Gucci apparel. All in all, what made the store special was how creative and innovating Gucci was trying to be with their own products, it was like being in an experimental Gucci store and because of that, I found it to be one of the best designer collections feature in the market. Moreover, another store I got to go into was the Nikelab DSM NYC store, located on the second floor of the market. When entering this store, you were definitely entering an experimental Nike store that really allowed you to see how innovative and individually personalized Nike can be towards their consumers. Due to this, I felt that Nikelab had done a good job at achieving its merchandising direction because the store allows itself to create flexible product displays to change and reinvent their newer and older collections held in the space and the store is a good blend of luxury/urban streetwear, which seems to really fit in well with Nike’s overall brand image. All in all, each store in the market is unique and inventive to themselves as each store has entirely different brand images that can coexist in this market beautifully.

Part 3 - Discovery of New Brands:

Before leaving Dover Street Market, I found several collections/brands that I had not recognized before. The one collection/brand that stood out to me the most was Comme Des Garçons. When entering Comme Des Garçons, what stood out the most to me about this brand was how minimalistic and sleek the space felt. While the space was colorful and had great displays shown near wooden bars collected together, the walls made the space feel enormous due to the white walls and grey concrete flooring, which gave the space an industrial feel as well. Overall, Comme Des Garçons was a great brand to discover at the market because the silhouettes of each design felt that they complemented a woman’s body well and the fabrication on each garment seemed to be made with high-quality fibers, which justified the high price point well.

[lifeinthebigapple1689]

Week 10 - WGSN

Part 1 - Prior Knowledge of WGSN:

Before heading to WGSN with the NYC studio, I had prior knowledge of what WGSN does as a company since we use their service in the Fashion School all the time. To those who may not know what WGSN is, WGSN is a trend forecasting website that is highly regarded in the fashion industry. WGSN is primarily responsible for updating the industry and an abundance of major corporations like Target, Disney, etc. about the upcoming trends of the next year or so. Additionally, this site also allows students in fashion programs throughout the US have access to these trend analysis and also provides computer-made flats available to our disposal to help us work on upcoming projects, trend boards, etc. Overall, WGSN is a reliable trend forecasting site for employees in the fashion industry and students working on gaining their skills within the fashion industry.

Part 2 - Observations Made During WGSN tour:

As WGSN presented to my NYC studio class about their company and their latest forecasting trends. They showed us a few of their upcoming trends for the next year and even told us how they gathered all their information each season. For every trend report that is out up onto their website, WGSN has their trend forecasters go to as many fashion shows as possible, whether the show is local or international. Additionally, WGSN will send their forecasters to Italy, Paris, Hong Kong, etc. to find streetwear inspiration for the site and have them head to sourcing events throughout the world. Essentially, forecasters have to be able to move around and go explore new places to find new and interesting trends to for WGSN and the industry. To me, I found WGSN and their description of their trend forecasters to be an exciting field to work in especially given all the travel and fashion shows they have to attend to find content for the website.

Part 3 - Favorite Piece of Advice From Sean:

As we were touring WGSN’s office space with Sean, there was a piece of advice that he said to a fellow student in my class that ended up resonating with me a lot. The price of advice that Sean gave to this student was that sometimes the intended career path you think you are gonna be in might actually change a bit if other opportunities present themselves, you have to find another job type to work in for a little bit, or you change your mind and chose to do another field of fashion than forecasting. This piece of advice that Sean gave to a fellow student in my class really resonated with me because when I first started at the Fashion School, I thought I was going to become a retail buyer after I graduate and work for Barney’s and Saks Fifth Avenue. I didn’t realize, however, that I would have a passion and desire to really become a cosmetic buyer and work more primarily in the cosmetic industry post-college graduation. All in all, this piece of advice from Sean resonated with me because I did change my mind on the

[lifeinthebigapple1689]

Week 9 - Hanes/Champion Sportswear

Part 1 - Prior Knowledge of Hanes/Champion Sportswear:

Before heading to Hanes/Champion Sportswear office in New York City, I knew which each of these brands was. Hanes is, of course, one of the biggest brands of basic apparel such as t-shirts, underwear, socks, etc. Additionally, Champion Sportswear is a well-known activewear brand that can usually be found at any of your local Target stores. While I already had an idea of what Hanes & Champion Sportswear was like, I had no idea that Champion Sportswear was actually owned by Hanesbrands Inc. and these two brands were umbrellaed under each other. After discovering this new information, I was very intrigued to head to the Hanes/Champion Sportswear office and see just how similar these two brands operated under one another.

Part 2 - Observations Made During The Hanesbrand Inc. Tour:

When heading into the Hanesbrand Inc. offices, my fellow students and I got to head into the Hanes brand creative office and see how the Hanes brand developed their fashion forecasting for Fall 2019 and beyond. In this meeting, three of the Hanes brand forecasting team showed us how they forecasted the upcoming trends, fabrics, and colors for the seasons to come. The forecasting that caught my attention the most during this meeting was the color forecasting because color forecasting, in my mind, largely determines if a trend for the next season will do well or flop. Furthermore, color is one of the first things that consumers’ notice when shopping, so if you accurately forecast the wrong colors for the next season, the trend will falter and stores will be unable to sell high volumes of clothes they bought with the color forecasting in mind. Regardless of this, what I learned about this specific job is that you have to be meticulous and very well organized when deciding the color forecasting of a season as you will be asked to not only find the main colors for the season, but also, develop color storyboards for each color, create buying cycles for each color, and create a color boards overall for the seasons to come with fabric swatches of each color option you have forecasted/provided to the forecasting team. With this in mind, I find being a color forecaster to be a very interesting job within the fashion industry and think it would be a cool job to possibly work in someday.

Part 3 - Favorite Piece of Advice From Gigi Musarra:

During our tour of Hanes/Champion Sportswear, Gigi Musarra, a fellow Kent Alum & Global Design Director for Hanesbrands Inc., met up with our group showed us around the offices. While Gigi Musarra gave us tours of the Hanes creative office and Champion Sportswear office space, Gigi said something to my class that really resonated with me afterward. What Gigi said that resonated with me so much was that she told my class that it was okay not to know exactly where to go or what to do after you graduate from college. While it may seem difficult to get paired up with your dream company you want to work for, you have to be open to any job opportunity you find in the fashion industry. Even if that first job out of school in the fashion industry doesn’t go well or end up being laid off, it will not be the end of your career in the industry, it will simply be a small learning stepping stone to a bigger and better job. This piece of advice resonated with me the most because Gigi helped me understand that my first job in the fashion industry will not be my final and only job in the industry and that I need to make sure if I am applying for jobs in New York after graduating from college, I should be applying for jobs with companies I have an interest in or have a passion for talking and learning more about their brand. Overall, the Hanes/Champion Sportswear office tour was very educational and allowed me to think more about my career path once graduating from college.

[lifeinthebigapple1689]

Week 8 - Bishop Collective

Part 1 - Prior Knowledge of Bishop Collective:

Prior to going to Bishop Collective, I had very little knowledge of what this store was about. After conducting some research on Bishop Collective’s website, I learned some interesting facts about this shop. The first interesting fact about Bishop Collective is that this store is run by a Kent State University NYC Studio Instructor, which allows for her to not only continue to work in the industry but also, provide knowledge about fashion forecasting and such to her local community. Another interesting fact I learned deals with Bishop Collective being an ethically sourced fashion company. The fact the store prides itself on being ethically sourced means that the store makes sure that all of their products are being made locally, products are being made with the highest craftsmanship possible, and the workers behind assembly their products are working in suitable working conditions and are being paid livable wages. While most companies may or may not highlight how ethically sourced they are, I love that Bishop Collective is based around being ethically sourced and makes sure this value is being upheld every day at their factories.

Part 2 - Observations During Store Experience:

After looking around Bishop Collective and getting brief history from Mai, the co-owner of the store and a Kent State University NYC Studio Instructor, I enjoyed listening to her talk to us about how she came to own this store while being a professor at a local university. Though Mai had stopped working in the fashion industry after she decided to become a professor, she also talked to my class about how quickly she realized how much her experience in the industry would only be useful for the first two years of her teaching because the industry is always evolving and because of that, she found telling her class stories about her previous fashion industry experience could only work for a short period of time. Due to Mai’s stories about her fashion industry experience starting to become fleeting and not resonating with her students so much, she decided to launch her own clothing company and continue to enhance her industry skills. Due to Mai realizing how important having current experience in the fashion industry is, it made me realize how I do not want to go into teaching after I have years of experience in the fashion industry, I would love to hopefully create my own brand instead after years of working for other companies and create something for myself.

Part 3 - Overall Impression of Bishop Collective:

While I enjoyed Bishop Collective as a store and got to view some of their best-selling clothing items, it is actually something that Mai said to my class that really resonated with me afterward. What Mai said that resonated with me so much was how she explained when owning your own company/store, you can’t be afraid to do anything and everything for it. Essentially, she spoke about cleaning the store on a daily basis, getting to know your target market and interact with them, show up to the store almost every day of the week, and come to learn new tasks in your store, especially when it comes to your customer service. Overall, Mai explained to me and my class that if you are unwilling to get down and dirty when creating your brand on a daily basis, learning new things about your brand as it develops over time, and be willing to shift things around in a timely manner or with little notice involved, then you should really consider if you are up for the challenges that come along with owning your own store and clothing company. All in all, Mai and her ambition to build her own fashion company from scratch is what truly resonated with me and made me think about what I want to be doing if/when I decide to stop working for a company or someone else in the fashion industry.

[lifeinthebigapple1689]

Week 7 - Bergdorf Goodman

Part 1 - Prior Knowledge of Bergdorf Goodman:

For this week’s journal entry, I decided to go to the store, Bergdorf Goodman. I chose to head to Bergdorf Goodman because this store has a very rich history in luxury apparel/goods. According to Bergdorf Goodman’s website, the store opened in 1901 and ever since their opening, Bergdorf Goodman has become a pinnacle of modern luxury, service, and style. Additionally, the store’s target customers would be women and men ages 25 and up as the store is looking for consumers who are in high-profile/high-paying jobs that would be able to afford to buy the luxury goods offered throughout the store and would not need discounts to purchase said items. Furthermore, the store’s retail philosophy deals with providing customers great customer service, as the store deals with people from all over the world and relies heavily on a good staff to deal with said consumers and have each of them be treated as like they were their own business. Lastly, what makes Bergdorf Goodman should special is its location and rich history of luxury goods. Though Bergdorf Goodman opened in 1901, the store was placed on 5th Avenue and 58th Street, which made the location a destination for their consumers who visit the store from New York to other parts of the world. Overall, what makes Bergdorf Goodman so special is that this store has allowed for up and coming/beloved designer names to be seen by their global audience and from this, has allowed this store to become known as the “crossroad of fashion”.

Part 2 - Observations During Store Experience:

While pursuing through Bergdorf Goodman, I went up to the fourth floor and beyond to find the women’s designers brands that I know and love. While I found brands such as Gucci, Prada, and Dior in Bergdorf Goodman, the collection that caught my eye the most was Linda Frago’s curated collection and shop that I discovered around the fifth floor of this store. What attracted me to Fargo’s collection over collections from Dior and such was that Fargo’s collection was laid out to look like you were shopping through a friend’s closet. While most of her collection had items from other brands such as Tom Ford and Gucci, every item was laid out by style and print. By having a part of the collection be in animal print to then cascading into plaids is, in my opinion, is smart because it draws in the consumer to multiple points in the collection and allows them to mix and match items together as they move through the shop. Overall, what drew me to Linda Fargo’s collection at Bergdorf Goodman than the other designer brands is that not only was the collection eccentric and different from most luxury brands, this was the only collection that truly achieved Bergdorf Goodman’s merchandising directive, which is to make every collection within their store feel like you are shopping through a friend’s closet while receiving one-of-a-kind customer service that will treat each customer as if they were their own business.

Part 3 - My Favorite Discovery From Bergdorf Goodman:

After searching around collections at Bergdorf Goodman, I ended up finding a brand that I haven’t heard about until now, which was called The Row. The Row is actually a collection created by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and focuses on a go-to minimalist look for each person’s closet space. While discovering who designed for this collection, what also intrigued me was the colors and silhouettes seen throughout their collection. Most of the colors in their collection are earth tones with hints of pastel blues and bright reds in their collection to present a pop of color. Moreover, the silhouettes seen throughout their collection are mostly fitted or loose a-line as to either highlight certain areas of a woman's body or to create a boyish look to each item. Overall, I am glad that I found a new brand that I haven’t heard of before in Bergdorf Goodman, especially one that is created by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and seems to draw inspiration from the Roaring Twenties, which is one of my favorite decades in fashion history.

[lifeinthebigapple1689]

Week 6 - The Apartment

Part 1 - Prior Knowledge of The Apartment:

Before heading out to see The Apartment, I went into the experience with no idea or clue about what the place would look like or be about. Once I was actually inside the space and also did some research on The Apartment, I was able to understand why this place is very unique and diverse in the city. What makes The Apartment unique and diverse than other stores in the city is that The Apartment takes a more intimate, personal approach to retail in general. To create this personal approach in retail, this store creates an apartment (hence the name) within a popular city and allows their customers to purchase anything and everything that the store puts into the apartment. By allowing their customers to purchase everything and anything that is seen within this apartment space, customers are able to buy not only from home decor but they can also buy fashion and beauty items as well. Overall, what makes The Apartment successful and what had drawn me and other consumers in is that the store acts and feels like a friends’ home and you are able to come in and pick and choose what you would like to take from it without the hassle of seeing a price tag anywhere in sight and receiving personal service by the employees who work in there.

Part 2 - Observations Made During Tour of The Apartment:

Based on the information provided by Allee, ou speaker during the tour, I gained a lot of insight about the industry and my own career path. The insight I received about the industry from Allee during our session with her is that if you really want to be a stylist, merchandiser, etc. in New York, then you have to not only build up your experience by internship opportunities, etc., you also have to be willing to do your background research on the companies you are dying to work prior to any interview, connecting with people who work at those companies, and anything else related to the hiring process. Furthermore, the insight I received about my own career path from Allee is that whatever goals you have on where you want to work or what role you want to step into, get ready to talk to as many people as you can find in that company and ask each of them thoughtful, well-throughout questions that will truly show all of them just how passionate you are about working in your field and with this particular company. After gaining this advice from Allee, I feel that I am more prepared to tackle the hiring process after college because now I can begin my research into the companies I truly want to work for and try reaching out to their employees for a potential meet and greet. Additionally, I can also begin tweaking my resume and going over my cover letter to see what parts of these papers I can improve upon and enhance for each of the companies that I want to work for after college.

Part 3 - Overall Impression of The Apartment:

After seeing The Apartment, my impressions of the space and store set-up is that it is a very innovative and unique way to sell fashion, beauty, and home items to consumers. The fact that this store allows customers to simply shop out of a cozy apartment with no price tags visible with everything can be touched or tried on with ease creates a whole new look to what future retail stores will slowly become. While trying to create and sell a brand image throughout a retail space with items labeled far and wide and trying to maintain some good, reliable customer service, retail stores are no longer as popular as they used to be. Seeing this new way of retailing really allows consumers to not think about budgeting their money or worry about how much they can afford, they can simply walk around The Apartment, feel like their in someone’s home, and choose to try on or test items without having to fully commit to an expensive purchase. Overall, The Apartment is a unique and diverse store in the city as it takes a more intimate, personal approach to retail in general than most of today’s typical retail shops.

[lifeinthebigapple1689]

Week 5 - Atrium Staffing

Part 1 - Prior Knowledge of Atrium Staffing:

Before heading to Atrium Staffing for a tour of their office, I only knew that the company was focused on job placement for recent college graduates, however, after conducting some research about the company and looking on their website, I got to learn what Atrium Staffing was really about. Unlike other New York City staffing agencies such as Eliassen Group, Aquent, and Advanced Resources, Atrium Staffing focused on finding each and every one of their clients a job that they loved by having several different industry divisions such as Business, Fashion/Retail, and Finance, and have a small team for each division that gave every client a personalized service based on their long or short term goals within their respective fields and offer a relationship-driven based relationship between the client and the staffers. Due to the relationship-driven based relationship between the client and the staffers, Atrium Staffing would get to know the culture of each company you are looking into and see how it pairs up with your future goals and help you make every decision within the hiring process while advising you on your potential job opportunities. Overall, I found Atrium Staffing’s unique personalized approach to job employment placing intriguing and I could not wait to learn more about their services during their Q&A sessions with my class.

Part 2 - Observations During Atrium Staffing Q&A:

Upon entering Atrium Staffing and sitting down with Jenna and several other Atrium Staffing employees, the atmosphere of the business was modern, industrial, and welcoming. Once we were all sat down in a conference room, we learned more about job hiring in our industry and gained insight into our career path. When came to job hiring in our industry, Jenna and the other Atrium Staffing employees said that it was very common not to have a full-time retail position lined up right after college. A majority of the time, if you do well within your internship, you might receive a job offer. If you did not receive a job offer after your internship, you could either choose to do another internship or come to the Atrium staffing offices, get paired with one of the Atrium employees who work in the Fashion/Retail division, and start searching and interviewing for full-time job opportunities. Upon learning we could come to an agency to find a job after graduating, it seemed to ease all of the nervous fashion merchandising seniors in the room. Moreover, some insight that I gained about my own career path came up when we Jenna started to talk about LinkedIn and connecting with the companies you are interested in working for. When it comes to LinkedIn Jenna says to use the site as a way to explore potential companies you want to work for, find the recruiters for each company, and reach out to them and ask to sit down with them and ask them for advice about working for their company and finding a job in the fashion industry. By doing this and reaching out to recruiters, you are showing them how much passion you have for their company and the industry without the sole intention of meeting them to ask only for a job offer. All in all, the Q&A session with the Atrium Staffing team helped everyone ease their concerns about not having a job right out of college and gave all of us useful advice when approaching recruiters, interviews, job searching with or without Atrium Staffing, etc.

Part 3 - My Favorite Advice From The Atrium Staffing Team:

As the Q&A session with Jenna and the other Atrium Staffing employees was coming to a close, there was one piece of advice that resonated with me very well. The piece of advice that Jenna and the other Atrium Staffing employees told us was that when interviewing with companies, as you are coming out of college and looking for a full-time job, you must not only show your passion through your interviews by the answers you provide, you must also ask possible employers thoughtful, compelling questions about their companies. By asking these questions before the end of your interview, you are showing companies and possible employers how truly invested you are in working within their company and you are also showing them that you made the conscious effort to research the company beforehand to be better engaged in discussion during the interview process. This piece of advice provided by Jenna and the Atrium Staffing employees resonated with me during this study tour because it made me think about my past interview experiences and made me think about how invested I seemed to look to my employers by the questions I asked them before the close of our interviews. Furthermore, this advice resonated with me because the tactic of asking possible employers thoughtful, compelling questions about their companies before the end of an interview will really help a company remember you afterward and hopefully help land you a job right after graduating college or help build a lasting connection with an employer and company in New York City. Overall, I found this tour of Atrium Staffing to be very informative since this is a tool us soon-to-be college graduates can use once we begin looking for full-time jobs after graduation and the agency has a staff devoted to helping fashion/retail graduates get jobs with the companies they potentially want to work for and can help them get a decent salary to help them survive life in the concrete jungle.

[lifeinthebigapple1689]

Week 4 - Thrillist

Part 1 - Prior Knowledge of Thrillist:

Upon the study tour trip to Thrillist, I was not sure what this company was about, I only knew it focused on social media, however, after researching about the company on their website, I’ve learned that Thrillist is more than another social media site. Essentially, Thrillist is like Yelp, a service based on helping you find the best restaurants, bars, salons, and other services in your local neighborhood. With this in mind, the thing that makes Thrillist completely different from Yelp is that Thrillist only helps people find the best food, drinks, and entertainment in the some of the busiest cities in the US or in Europe, such as New York and London. All in all, Thrillist wants their site and their social media presence to be about helping people live their lives to the fullest, whether it is in their hometown or they are planning a weekend getaway in New York, where nothing stops moving. Overall, I found this company to be very unique and exciting to learn about and could not wait to go tour their offices and learn more about the careers offered by this company.

Part 2 - Observations During Thrillist Q&A with their Team Members:

After entering the Thrillist office, my study tour group was sent to one of Thrillist’s meeting rooms and we got to meet several members of the Thrillist team. One of these members was a Kent State alumnus that had graduated in 2016 and enjoyed her job at this company. One of the things that I found very interesting during this meeting was learning that most of Thrillist’s team members did not have a degree or minor in social media, some came in with majors such as marketing, accounting, etc., and somehow found their way into this company. For a majority of Thrillist's team members, they essentially learned how to do things on the job or learned how to improve their work skills outside the office on their free-time. For me, learning that you did not have to go into a job already understanding every little detail involved provided some relief when it comes to job searching after college. This statement provided me some relief about applying for jobs after college because it seems like most businesses today say that you must understand every part of your job before getting started and that idea can feel very stressful for someone approaching their college graduation and life in the real world. After the discussion with the Thrillist team, they were nice enough to show us around their open space offices, that were on a few different levels, and see what it looked like to work in a big group setting. As we were looking around their offices, the Thrillist team also told us that their team also worked with some other popular social media platforms, such as the Dodo and Now This, both of which I constantly see videos for on Facebook. To me, I really enjoyed the fact that the Thrillist team and other media sites worked together for each of their sites and to provide great content overall for social media users like me. Overall, I found Thrillist and the tour of their offices to be a great learning opportunity as the team members talked to us about how they got to Thrillist, how they stay productive and were willing to let us tour their offices.

Part 3 - My Favorite Advice From a Thrillist Team Member:

While touring Thrillist, we got to speak to one of their team members, Maddie, Maddie is the Social Media Coordinator for Thrillist and offered some great advice about getting a job and going to job interviews after college. One piece of advice that really resonated with me from Maddie was she stated how you need to show possible job employers how passionate you are about not only their company but the work, effort, and time you are willing to put in for them. This piece of advice really resonated with me because I want to show potential future employers that I know my worth and how passionate I am about my major and future job. Additionally, I wanted to understand why a business may or may not hire me and learning from Maddie that if your passion for a potential job does not show during your interviews, such as not seeming to care about the job or company, then you will ultimately lose out on a good job opportunity and get stuck turning in your resume to dozens of businesses with no luck in sight. With this advice in mind, I will head Maddie’s advice and try to make sure that people see my passion for my career and that I know my confidence and worth will help me land a job post-graduation and start my career in the retail industry.

[lifeinthebigapple1689]

Week 3 - Ralph Lauren/Chaps

Part 1 - Prior Knowledge of Chaps:

Before heading to the Chaps office in New York, I had no real prior knowledge of the brand or the fact that the Chaps brand was even within the Ralph Lauren portfolio. To me, learning that the Chaps brand was apart of the Ralph Lauren company was very intriguing because I never thought that Ralph Lauren was a company that had a lower designer brand attached to it to drive in more customer business. Regardless of this, to understand Chaps more, I went onto the Chaps website and tried to learn how Chaps fit into the Ralph Lauren portfolio. After conducting my research, I found that Chaps fit into the Ralph Lauren portfolio by being an “All-American” brand, one that allows the whole family to wear timeless clothing that is authentically made and had collections that span all the way from menswear to special occasion dressing. Once I discovered this background information on Chaps, I was able to understand how Chaps fit into the Ralph Lauren family and see how this lower designer brand help bring in revenue for the Ralph Lauren Corporation, by selling variations of Ralph Lauren attire and pricing the brand at a mid-range price point that makes it suitable for families and a younger generation.

Part 2 - Observations During the Chaps Team Meet & Greet:

When meeting the Chaps team members, there were two Kent State University alumni on the team and it was nice to know that after college, girls from Kent State were able to find and grab onto these job opportunities post-graduation. Moreover, it was interesting getting to meet the other team members as well and learning that most of the team did not have any type of fashion merchandising background before getting their positions at the Ralph Lauren company. One piece of insight that really stuck with me and helped me gain more knowledge about my career path was learning how the team members of Chaps/Ralph Lauren would go about hiring someone straight out of college. A majority of the team stated that if they hired someone right out of college and onto their team, the applicant would not only have to build a good connection during the interview process with one of the team members, but, they would also have to show the team that they have the passion to be within this industry and complete the work that is required from them within a timely manner and positive attitude. This piece of insight got me to start thinking about my own career path because my hopes for the future are to become a merchandiser for a well-known brand and let them see and know my worth within their company or brand. Additionally, I found that knowing your worth within the fashion industry will truly help you exuberate more confidence into your work-life because if you allow yourself and your passion to drive you forward, you won't fear it or let it hold yourself back. Overall, I found that meeting the Chaps team was a great learning tool about the fashion industry because we were able to learn each team members backstories and received advice on how to go about securing a job after graduation.

Part 3 - My Favorite Advice From a Chaps Team Member:

When thinking about the things we discussed with the Chaps team members, one talking point really resonated with me. The talking point that resonated with me was from one of the Merchandisers and she discussed how brushing upon your excel skills is always a good idea. I found this talking point to resonate with me the most because in most of my fashion classes at Kent State, we are constantly working with excel and while I understand and know the basics of the program, I have yet to master all the shortcuts and key options that I could use within the program. Once this point was made during the Meet/Greet, I found myself really listening to the merchandisers’ advice on working on your excel skills because it will be a program I use often in a merchandising role and if I do not learn how to master my excel skills, it could hurt me later on in my career. Because of this resonating talking point, I am going to start brushing up on my excel skills during my classes and try to teach myself possible shortcuts I could use within the program at home so if I need them, I will know how to do it.

[lifeinthebigapple1689]

Week 2 - The MET: Heavenly Bodies Exhibition

Part 1 - Prior Knowledge of Heavenly Bodies:

Since the Heavenly Bodies exhibition opened up at the MET, I have been hoping that I would get to see it in person. Not only did I get to see it in person on this study tour, I got to see with my mother last week and for the first time. Since I was very fortunate to see this exhibition twice, I had plenty of time to examine each and every piece and details on the garments displayed during this exhibition in New York. Before even going to the exhibit the first time, I was a little unsure what the whole premise of Heavenly Bodies was about. My original thought of the exhibition was based on how fashion became influenced by the Catholic religion and their values. After going to the exhibition and reading The MET website’s press release on the exhibition, however, I know understand the premise of the entire exhibition better. The real premise behind the Heavenly Bodies exhibition is how religion has been influencing fashion for years and how designers interpretations of the Catholic religion and fashion have been intertwined and innovating one another for decades. While it may have taken me a bit of time to truly understand the premise of the exhibition, I found it very fulfilling to examine the garments featured in the galleries and look for all the tiny, intricate details that make the exhibition worthwhile and memorable for any fashion enthusiast out there.

Part 2 - Observations While Wandering the Exhibition:

After seeing the exhibition twice within a two-week period, I find that the exhibition itself is not only filled with extravagant dresses, but it is very spread out through the entire museum. When first entering the MET, the main part of the exhibition, located in the Medieval & Byzantine Art Gallery, allows people to see an array of gowns and garments meant to reflect the Madonna, the Catholic religion, and the Virgin Mary. Additionally, this main part of the exhibition features two different dress collections from Versace and Dolce & Gabbana's runway collections from the late 90s. Within the other two parts of the gallery, the Robert Lehman Wing and Anna Wintour Costume Center, people can find a small collection of gowns that interpret various designers outlooks on the Catholic religion as well as a collection of the Pope’s jewels, gowns, crowns, etc. that have been lent to the museum by the Vatican. While the exhibition itself allows you to see a lot of different visual interpretations of fashion and Catholicism, people will also find themselves wondering how  Catholicism/Catholic iconography has influenced fashion and/or fashion designers. Walking through this exhibition myself, I found that Catholicism/Catholic iconography has influenced fashion and/or fashion designers to be very extravagant with fashion and allowed fashion to be overindulged in the finer things of life. Though the Catholic religion is not based on luxury, greed, or lust and was founded on the principles of giving up your humanly sins for your relationship with Christ and your entrance into Heaven, this notion overtime has been diluted by lust, power, and greed. Examples of this dilution can be seen as the Pope’s outfits and garments became adorned with jewels over time. Moreover, the Virgin Mary is seen through the religion, not as a poor young woman in society but a goddess that should be adorned with the finest and rarest jewels, due to the gift she bestowed upon Earth. Due to these examples, it is safe to say that Catholicism/Catholic iconography has influenced fashion and/or fashion designers to create fashion that is lavish and overindulges in the finer things of life.

Part 3 - A Few of My Favorite Things from the Exhibition:

Though the exhibition has numerous pieces that I wish I could take home with me and keep in my closet, there was one piece that I found myself gravitating towards to the most. The piece I gravitated towards the most in the exhibition was a blood-red Valentino gown that was placed right in the front of the main part of the exhibition, just as you entered the church-like room. What made me gravitate towards this Valentino dress was that the dress has a huge slit down to the belly button, which not only showed a lot of a woman’s skin but exposed an abundance of cleavage. Because of the daring slit, I thought that the dress showed a striking difference in the way Catholics viewed women, as they are not meant to be objectified or exposed in an unholy manner. Adding on, I found this piece in the exhibition to be one of the only pieces that interpreted the Catholic religion very loosely and was meant to lean towards a more haute couture look than a symbolic piece. With all of this in mind, I found this red Valentino dress and its loose interpretation on the Catholic religion to be very gravitating in the exhibition because it was the one dress that made a striking display in the exhibition, since the dress was not made in mind with the views of how women should look to the church nor was based on any interpretation of the Madonna or Virgin Mary, which was seen countless times throughout the entire exhibition.

Part 4 - Best Dressed Celebrity at the MET Gala:

Despite the countless fashion interpretations of the Madonna or Virgin Mary, the exhibition is quite striking and should be something fashion enthusiast see, whether they enjoyed the MET Gala looks or had a favorite celebrity look for the gala. For me, my favorite celebrity look of the 2018 MET Gala was Blake Lively’s Versace Gown. After seeing Blake Lively’s gown on the MET Gala red carpet, I found that she best exemplified the theme of the exhibition because she painted herself to look like the ideal Madonna figure that is exhibited through the entire exhibition with her lavish, gold headpieces, long trains, and intricate embroideries. Furthermore, the colors used in the dress were colors that can be seen throughout the different clergies in the Vatican and that are colors used throughout the religion in various paintings and artworks. Due to these reasons, I found that Blake Lively was the best dressed during the MET Gala and looked the most heavenly like.

[lifeinthebigapple1689]

Week 1 Images from Bryant Park & the FIT Museum’s Current Exhibition: Fashion Unraveled

[lifeinthebigapple1689]

Week 1: Scavenger Hunting in the Garment District

Part 1 - Prior Knowledge of the District:

While this is my first time truly living in New York City, this is not my first time being in the Garment District. Before the scavenger hunt through the Garment District, I already walked through the area two times with the Fashion Student Organization (FSO) on their yearly New York City trip, however, I was only walking through the district to see Kent State’s studio near Times Square. Professor William Perrine, who runs the fashion organization, once told me and the other FSO members on our bus ride to the city how the Garment District shows off a rich history of the manufacturing and processing of clothing and fabrics throughout the last few decades. While the history of the Garment District can be seen through the architecture of the buildings that occupy the area and a few landmarks that let people know they are in the Garment District, most of the actual fabric shops or manufacturing facilities that used to be open are now gone.  While trying to understand why this area in New York City is still called the Garment District, I found an article from the New York Times that detailed why some people who work in the district are calling for the area to be renamed to drive innovation and bring well-known fashion designers back into the area. Though the article was fascinating to read, I found myself wondering then why the name of this district should be changed at all.

Part 2 - Observations Made During the Scavenging:

As my group and I were out on the scavenger hunt, I realized just how big the Garment District really was. I initially thought the Garment District, on my first visit, was down one avenue alone and held multiple fabric shops and was the home to some well-known designers. In reality, the district is full of coffee shops, restaurants, and various tourist attractions. Some of those attractions are the giant button sculpture and the Fashion Walk of Fame. Despite these tourist attractions, it was interesting to discover that I could walk to Bryant Park and the New York Public Library. While my group and I were scavenging around the district, we took a stop in these two areas for separate reasons. The first reason was that none of us had seen the inside of the public library. Due to this, we decided to go inside and see how to get library cards. The other reason we took a stop on our hunt was that Bryant Park seemed to have much better green space than Central Park. Though Central Park has a lot of great walking trails and is a great place for dog sightings, people cannot simply bring a blanket to the park and enjoy being in the middle of a busy city. Bryant Park offers that feeling and truly gives you a sense of being a little fish in a giant pond. With these places in mind, I found that taking the time to explore the Garment District for a few hours really opened my eyes to how big New York City really is and how close you are from the Kent State Studio to all these unique amenities. Luckily, Google Maps exist so I won’t have to worry about getting lost too much. I am glad, however, that I found a new park to hang out and do homework in during the Fall while I am drinking a pumpkin spice latte from the nearby Starbucks.

Part 3 - Memorable Things About the District:

After walking around the Garment District, there were three things that caught my eye and became very memorable to me. The first thing that was memorable to me was Mood Fabrics. I have always wanted to see Mood Fabrics in person since I first watched Project Runway. On the show, I thought the fabric store had its own shop right on the streets of New York City when in fact, it is actually on the third level of a building on West 37th Street. Regardless of that fact, what made this place really memorable to me was not that I had seen the shop on TV before, it was that there was a sense of community within the store itself. Furthermore, not only did I get to meet the store's dog, Swatch, I also purchase a Mood Fabrics tote bag to take back home with me in December. The second memorable thing on the walk was Lord & Taylor. Lord & Taylor was another memorable thing on the scavenger hunt because I got to go inside the flagship store and see what the place looks like before it closes its doors in the near future. While it was great to see and go inside this 11-story store, the location itself is pretty great because the store is right by Times Square, and not to bad of a commute to from the school. With the flagship store in mind, it was also memorable because Lord & Taylor has been on 5th Avenue for about 104 years, according to the New York Post and other newspaper publications. Due to the future closing of this store, it was great to see a part of long-standing fashion history within the city before the flagship store closes for good. Lastly, the third memorable thing was FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology). FIT was very memorable to me because not only did I want to go to school there initially, I never got to see or tour around their museum. Since we made the walk to FIT, my group decided to go inside the museum and see their current exhibition, Fashion Unraveled. The exhibition was very brief, easy to navigate around, and allowed people to get close up to the dresses and accessories that designers made out of paper mâché or hand embroidered together as much as possible. Additionally, there were also a couple of pieces that were made by Oscar De La Renta in the exhibition that was very pretty to see. All in all, getting to go to each place made the Garment District more memorable to me. It became more memorable to me because these three places are all filled with rich histories that began way before I was ever even around. Moreover, these places make the Garment District what it is, a place where designers, manufacturers, or merchandisers were able to be innovative and push through fashion boundaries to make a statement in the world. Because of this powerful past, I understand know why this area that surrounds our school is called the Garment District and why the area’s name itself is too powerful to change.