Although this internship was the best time and i came home everyday happy and excited to go in the next day, I felt it lacked responsibilty but my thought was confirmed by Bryony inwhich she stated to me because I am here for only 6 weeks that I wouldnt be able to work with clients one on one due for the short time and also it could become confusing for the clients. To which i completely agreeded with her but this has also validated this for me that I have struggled with is what I have been wanting to do when I graduated and what I wanted to do, but with this internship it has been me realise that Fashion PR is something I am good at and something I want to pursue as a career.
Seeing my co-workers talk about the industry and knowing the in and outs, plus also getting to go to all the fashion weeks plus these amazing events. It makes me more excited and makes me more determined to strive to do the best I can possibly do, and achieve this dream that i have now got fixated in my brain.
Lets start from the top and then work down..
Managing Director - Nan Richards
Vice Presidents - Oliva and Adam
PR Directors - Dale and Judith and Bryony
Senior Publicists - Sam and Amy and Eloise
Juniour Publicist - Brittany
Graduate Interns - Patricia, Jamila and Kate
Interns - Thea and Laura
Finance Team - Sarah and other woman (always forget her name!)
Such a quiet week everyone is chilled out due to fashion week finishing, on Monday the office orders in Pizza for lunch, to my surprise as 20 minutes earlier I was talking to Laura about how much I wanted pizza. But anyways with not many photoshoots happening the send out and returns are pretty slow but coverage is massive so every spare minutes I have I am searching the internet for coverage.
On Wednesday we get an email from Nan due to our hard week we get half a day on Friday getting to leave at 1pm. So after 6 weeks its my last day and i dont think it has hit me yet that I am finished I get to the office ontime like usual and the day goes so fast, I get kicked out of the showroom at 1pm by Serena (Showroom Manager) who is like lets go home, and as I go downstairs back to the office it hits me. I start putting on my coat and Kate (Graduate Intern) comes up to me, hugs me and says thank you for everything and hands me a card, and which is lead by everyone else coming towards me hugging me and saying my goodbyes and everyone saying good luck for future and keep in touch.
So after the Alexander McQueen show I was told I was going to be working the Amanda Wakely show on Tuesday Morning, in which I had to be outside Kings Cross for half 8, but again I was there 15 minutes early and met Bryony and helped her with the equipment to take backstage. Once inside we did the same as Alexander McQueen except we were the only team so we sorted out the seating arrangements.
I was supposedly going to be working backstage but ended up on front door with Dale and Bryony, which was all ok because it was one of the warmest mornings for a while with sun so whilst at the beginning I was chilling with the secruity team and Thea until it was time to open the doors, letting the photographers etc into the showroom.
One thing I didnt realise was a massive thing was the Street Fashion with photographer taking photographs of attendees and obviously them people trying to be cool, trying way to hard to be seen. But it was interesting to see how the guests and the photographers interacting and how many times it takes to get the best images.
So it's Sunday I am 20 Minutes early to the show but I meet Chelsea outside (Office Receptionist) as we check in and get our backstage passes we wait for the others to arrive. Once everyone is arrived we go into the show space and we are stood around and introduced to the inhouse PR team at Alexander McQueen and we are told the plans and the guests that will be attending and what to expect.
After this we are set a section of seats to put out seat numbers and then to also rememerise the guest lists and the seating charts, after which when guests started arriving we all got into position. I was positioned by the main enterance for the show and greeted the guests and directed guests to their sections of where they were seated if needed be.
Once the show began I got to see the show and witness the atmosphere, and also the how fast paced the show and everything is plus i couldnt believe how as soon as it finishes everyone basically runs out the door!
The lead up to London Fashion Week beginnings and on Monday I am told I will be working the Alexander McQueen show that will be happening that Sunday. Which I am totally way to excited for due to it being my first ever show seeing, my first ever fashion week, so the excitment is going into overdrive.
So all week the office becomes more and more stress but at the same time buzzing, the CEO of KCD Ed arrives in London which adds more stress to the office, it has to be spotless, flowers are set, the candles are burning, everyone is dressed up, except me and Dale (PR Director) in which we seem to be matching in a black tshirt, jeans and white trainers, but it's a cool vibe. Ed comes in and greats everyone, he is a summer nice guy with his American accent and seem totally cool including his style.
I carry my week on as normal still doing, returns, send outs and coverage, still not fulling knowing what i am doing on Sunday for the Alexander McQueen until Jamilla (Graduate Intern) messages me the schedule so I have to be there at 4pm...
So beginning of the third week it was like any other until Tuesday when i was the only intern in and then i was given the responsibility to pull clothing which i felt that fitted shoots and that needed to be called in and then creating the send outs. It also helped me with learning clients from publications and their names etc, like understanding as well what role they play within their own business and also learning about new publications i had known about and checking them out.
With this responsibilty brought me to talk more with the other girls in the office and learning about their roles as publicists and what they do with clients. But also these weeks was when I started meeting clients when they came to the showroom to come hand pick clothing for their shoots or dressings.
In which i met stylists that were dressing A-List celebrities for Photocalls, TV Appearances etc, celebrity clients included Jourdan Dunn, Chloe Grace Moretz and Rosie Huntington-Whitely to name a few.
Having spoken to Lewis and Sarah and both declaring it looked somewhat like something out of Ugly Betty, its so me, its white and black it it has that sort of not trying to hard but super glam.
The studio whilst I was there was upgraded with matte charcoal grey rails to bring a more satifiscated look to the showroom, and with the new flooring that was added last year the showroom seemed to be coming together.
Word on the street I overheard Nan (Director of the London Office) said she is going to buy the other office on the second floor beside the showroom and double the showroom in size, so yes that could be possibly happening.
Also fun story, Nan came into the office one morning and said we need to get rid of all the candles and most be replaced by all organic ones due to the possiblity that normal candles give you cancer.
I guess its just an ordinary thing to order 10, 40+ pound candles.
Nothing really changes, my days blur in togehter, I do the same job in and out, but becoming closer with the girls that I mainly work with, chatting and gossiping seeing what we get up to over the weekends or the evenings, asking everyday what we are going to have for lunch.
Constantly doing coverage and then returns, I dont think they are fully accepting me to take on bigger responsibilities yet, but thats cool and I understand it, they are testing me.
But honestly the one thing that is getting me is the early starts and getting home late and not full being able to socialise with friends or having the energy to do anything, I understand that this is the working life but I guess I am just not into it yet.
First goal of the day achieved I wake up on time and early for once, so I guess its foreshadowing my day. The tube was easy not to busy considering rush hour, managing to get a seat, playing a playlist of cheesy upbeat songs to get me into a mood for the day. Miss Warren Street station and end of getting off a Godge Street but all is ok, the office is basically half way between both. But as I get my bearings as Eminem would say my 'palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy' but I remain calm. I walk up to the door press the KCD buzzer and am let in.
I walk in and am greeted with warm smiles and welcomes, everyone comes and greets me with a handshake and smile. After been taking through who people are and what they do, Bryony who was my supervisor as such took me to the conference table and presented me with my contract, a confidentiality agreement, and an expenses form.
My first task of the day was coverage, in which every morning we have to scan every major UK newpapers and fashion magazines plus online coverage looking for mentions of the brands in which KCD represent such as Maison Margiela, Chloe, Tory Burch, Phillip Lim and ThomasTait. This could range from The Daily Telegraph to The Guardian to Vogue UK to Wonderland Magazine.
After this me and the other interns, Laura and Thea head upstairs with the return bags that come back from these publications or stylists, and in which they talk me through this system called GPS in which is an online system of which you create send-outs and can log a return. Basically an online log that we can always see where samples are and what publications they are at.
After having an hour break, I continue doing this until the end of the day at 6, where i am thanked for helping etc and hope I had a great first day!