Final Week @ Zac Posen

This final week at my internship has come to an end.  I have both happy and sad feelings leaving this summer and experience behind me, and I couldn't feel more accomplished!  I really think that I've learned quite a bit as a Zac Posen intern including things about myself, the city, and the fashion world in general.  I've come to realize that I can do basically anything if I put forth the effort and keep my mind on the goal.  This has been tested in small situations (such as getting through the crowds in the garment district while running an errand) or in bigger situations (such as when given a project to complete by one of the designers in a shorter amount of time than I imagined possible).  I have also learned that even though people in the city are rumored to be terrible and rude, they actually aren't that different from anyone else- only forced to sometimes act mean and scary because they're in a rush.  The city is also so full of culture and beauty, that you sometimes need to look past the dirty sidewalks on Canal Street and smelly subway stations at every corner to truly appreciate it.  Finally, I've learned that the fashion world isn't as glamorous and fun as it looks on TV and in the magazines.  It involves a lot of long hours, stress, and constant trips to the garment district.  However, it is still a crazy and exciting world of creative people that I hope to join after graduating this May.  

My best experience during the internship had to be interacting with Zac Posen himself.  He makes such a presence whenever he is in the atelier and shows that he truly loves to be involved in the many processes happening in the office.  Also, I was happily surprised by how organic and creative the design process is at the company.  I was able to see gowns upon gowns being created from sketched idea to the actual product right in front of me- it was amazing.  On the other end of the scale, my worst experience may have to be the time in the beginning of the summer when I had to wait for 3 hours (in a HOT sweatshop) for a Resort 2014 dress to be finished for press day the next morning.  I didn't get home until 11pm that night.  Aside from that time and a week or two of very slow days at the office, my experience was great. I learned a lot about design, how a big company works, different job titles that are available in the industry, and about the fashion world in general.  I am happy that I took on this internship and am very grateful that I was able to gain so much experience in such an amazing city.  

the sign on the entrance door to the offices

Current Event

This week's current event is taken from a NY Times article about the recent uproar over the supposed tax evasion by Mr. Dolce and Mr. Gabbana.  The city of Milan has recently accused and brought to trial the two designers for some pricey tax evasion which resulted in slanderous comments and rumors in Italian newspapers about what really happened.  The two designers even shut down their Dolce & Gabbana boutiques in Milan due to the vicious comments made about the ordeal.  Their tax issue is still being resolved in Italy because the designers believe that they have been able to pay a tax rate issued by Luxembourg since 2004 instead of the much higher tax rate in Italy.  Since the Italian government will not let the case rest on issuing a smaller penalty to the men than originally issued, the case will have to be appealed a few more times before it's over.  The designers are especially worried about having to pay the heavy fines requested by the government because they believe that they will be forced to sell and close the company to be able to come up with the money.  

This issue is not rare among the fashion world at all, however, this is especially bad for the industry and other high fashion designers.  Companies don't want a bad rep spreading among their high dollar brands and investors and are also concerned that this is happening to such a profitable and iconic company.  What will happen if Dolce & Gabbana is forced to close?  It's not clear how everything will play out, but the final decision in this case will surely hit the fashion world and its leaders hard.

article url:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/26/business/global/a-label-mr-dolce-and-mr-gabbana-dont-like.html?ref=fashion&_r=0

Internship

I wanted to dedicate this post to all of my fellow interns that I've worked with every day in the Zac Posen atelier.  Since everyone that I started my first day with is starting to leave as well, I figured I'd write about my experience with them.  For the majority of the summer, I was working with about 4-8 other interns every day.  We were all working in the design department and set up shop every morning in the atelier kitchen, which quickly became our home base.  Most of the other interns were similar to me- about my age, in college, and wanting to get experience in fashion design.  However, they were also different than me because I was the only one who wasn't majoring in fashion or apparel design- I'm a fashion merchandising major.  This quick realization made me recognize how happy I was to go to a school where I had already gotten the whole "college experience" and also how unfortunate it is that my school doesn't offer design as a major OR a minor.  I couldn't even minor in art.  I immediately began to notice how advanced everyone else was compared to me in design, especially in construction and dyeing.  However, my fellow interns were more than helpful to me and actually taught me more than any of the professionals at Zac Posen did.  They, of course, were interacting with me more often and were also just genuinely happy to help and offer advice on anything from sewing on industrial machines to draping on the mannequins.  I really feel grateful that I was chosen for this internship among all of these incredibly talented art school students and am glad that I was able to learn so much from them.  It's been sad seeing them go and I will definitely be sad to leave the rest behind when I leave next week.  Thankfully, I will join most of them again in September to work the Zac Posen show at Fashion Week! Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of everyone since pictures aren't allowed in the studios, but I do have a picture of us during lunch on the steps at our internship.  I stole this picture (below) from one of my fellow interns' instagram, of course!

Current Event

This week's current event is taken from the growing trend of capsule collections among the fashion world.  Many designers such as J Crew, American Apparel, and even Kanye West have been coming out with capsule collections recently.  I just read an article about the most recent capsule collection coming out by Karl Lagerfeld, to be opened in Munich.  The collection is said to be Bavarian-inspired and set to coincide with the 180th anniversary of Oktoberfest in Germany.  Staying true to Bavarian traditional attire, he will be featuring versions of the dirndl skirt, white blouse, and pinafore.  He is planning to give these traditional pieces a bit of his own touch by adding a rock and roll edge with black leather and crosses.  Below is a picture featured in the article that is an illustration of one of the designs by Lagerfeld.  I think that this growing popularity of capsule collections among designers will definitely continue, and more high fashion designers like Karl Lagerfeld will follow his lead.  Maybe even Zac Posen could try one of his own!

Article address:
http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2013/07/17/karl-lagerfeld-bavarian-oktoberfest-collection---munich-store-opening

Current Event

This weekend, I read an article on the New York Times website titled "Bicycle Helmets as Fashion Statements."  I was expecting an short article simply stating that helmet-looking head pieces have been showing up in recent runway shows, but I was surprised from what it actually entailed.  The article discusses the recent increase in people commuting to work by bicycle, especially in the city.  It went on further to explain that the new bike-sharing trend in the city has quickly led to an increase in the use of helmets as more than just safety equipment- they've now become a fashion statement!  The article focuses in on air bag helmets made to inflate into a chic covering when the wearer has come into a collision as well as helmets that have been designed by top brands such as Gucci.  I think that this trend is going in a great direction for the city, especially due to how dangerous biking in the streets looks from the sidewalks.  I love the idea of this becoming a new niche for designers to dive into.  Maybe even Zac Posen and other similar designers will catch onto this trend early and give it a try!  Here are a few pictures of fashionable helmets featured in the article:

  address to the NY Times article:
 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/11/fashion/Bicycle-helmets-as-fashion-statements-and-accessories.html?ref=fashion&_r=0

Current Event

This past week, I read a news article on the Huffington Post website announcing that the employees of United Airlines have debuted a newly designed uniform as of last week.  The uniform is said to have an overall theme that is more modern than previous uniforms and features classic colors including navy blue, gold, silver, and grey.  The particular style will differ depending on the employees' job title.  For example, flight attendants will have a general wardrobe including black trousers, skirts, sweaters, vests, and blazers.  Female flight attendants will also have 2 new styles of dresses to choose from.  The article also noted that American Airlines will soon follow suit in reinventing their uniforms and Virgin America actually teamed up with Banana Republic last year for a new look of their own.  

This development is important to both the fashion industry and Zac Posen, in particular.  It's important because this may spark the interest of big designer names to expand their boundaries into designing for major companies needing uniforms.  Especially since Banana Republic, which is a very well known and sophisticated brand, teamed up with Virgin America, there is a good chance that we will be seeing more top dollar companies getting involved in similar ways.  Zac Posen may not be the next on my list to follow suit, however, I think it's a great idea for a company that hasn't recently expanded its market or customer base and is looking for something new to try.  I think that this new development is doing a great service to the fashion industry by expanding it's market reach as well as to the customers and employees of these airlines.  I'm sure that both the employees themselves and frequent travelers will appreciate a newer and more attractive wardrobe for the airline professionals.

address for the article: 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/25/united-airlines-new-uniforms_n_3496997.html?utm_hp_ref=fashion

Week 5

Zac Posen creates ready to wear collections comprised of day wear, suiting, and evening wear.  He has also recently branched out with accessories such as handbags.  His merchandise is for women of a diverse age range that are sophisticated, feminine, and glamorous.  With a hefty price tag that comes along with most of his items, the majority of his customers are celebrities and upper class socialites.  All of his pieces are classic and he smartly steers away from fads and trendy styles.  A few of my favorite pieces from his latest Resort 2014 Collection are pictured below.  Zac's prices are very steep for the Collection- averaging at about $3,000 for a gown.  His lower-priced line, ZSpoke, hits at the upper hundreds range and it comprised of some of his more casual merchandise.  This week was much like the past few weeks in terms of what I was doing.  For most of the week, a few of the other interns and I worked on inserting boning into one of his ball gowns ordered by a client of his.  See below for a picture of the amazing gown!  I was decently busy this week but was able to have some downtime to sketch my own designs.  Like always, I'm looking forward to next weeks challenges and experiences!

this is the pink ball gown that I worked on this week

Current Event: Week 4!

Zac Posen to design lower price line for David's bridal:

USA Today recently posted an article showcasing the news that my own boss, Zac Posen, is teaming up with David's Bridal to design a lower-priced bridal line. I knew of this news a bit ahead of time but not until this past week was I able to see one of the new wedding gowns being created right in front of my eyes!  It was beautiful and romantic of course and showed no indication of it being lower priced than most of his couture gowns. I witnessed the same amount of hard work in the atelier being put into its creation as everything else.  I was even lucky enough to steam out some of the tulle for one of the dresses! 

While reading the pleasing and complimentary article, paired with a video interview, I was happy to realize that it was done at the studio that I work in everyday.  The article does well in describing Posen's aim to appeal to his wide base of customers and brides of  urban, suburban, and country style. I think that this is a bold and gutsy yet smart move by Zac. Appealing to the lower price ranged clientele is always a smart move in my book for high fashion designers. Bridal is also a great niche for Posen to break into since he has already made a reputable name for himself in the gown and special occasion wear category.  Why not dip your toes into an always relevant area such as bridal? Also, due to the general consumer's struggle with the slow economy in the U.S., finding bridal items that are designer and lower priced is always desirable.  When speaking with one of the designers at Zac Posen about this new venture, he was very enthusiastic about the expansion and truly believed that it would be a good move for the company. I sure hope that he is right!

photo detail of one of Zac's gowns for David's Bridal

Source:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/06/12/zac-posen-davids-bridal-launch-new-bridal-line-truly-zac-posen/2412729/

Week 4 @ Zac Posen!

         Zac Posen has been advertising through various media channels including Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook as well as through popular fashion websites such as style.com and vogue.com.  Zac, himself, tweets and posts instagram pictures of his personal life, his designs, and the garments in the process of being made. This personal touch is great for reaching out to customers and fans on a more tangible and intimate level. In reference to his photo advertising specifically, Zac does well in always exuding a general feeling of glamour and fun. Below is an example of one of his photos from a recent shoot of the new Resort Collection. The target customer for Zac Posen varies depending on whether it's for his Z Spoke line or the  collection. Z Spoke is directed towards the middle to upper class woman that is searching for ready to wear clothing and accessories that are classy, glamorous, and wearable. The collection is aimed towards a more specific niche of customers including celebrities and wealthy women looking for a specialty item.  Collection  pieces are very labor intensive and expensive but are amazingly glamorous.  I think Zac does well in reaching out to his target market since they are most often looking for pieces and ideas from word of mouth or on social media sites. They are also usually looking for pieces that are more special and rare instead of common among the magazine pages and billboard ads. 

       This past week at my internship has been much less busy and eventful than previous weeks because the Resort 2014 collection has been finished and the designers are now brainstorming and gearing up for the next season's collection. The interns have been given tasks including researching ideas and trends, trying out different sewing and draping techniques, and creating our own prints for fabric ideas. In our downtime, we have been sketching our own designs and playing around with different dying techniques as well.  We have also been assisting the sewers with finishing off specially made to order gowns for personal clients. I'm always learning new things about design every day, as well as different sewing and construction techniques. The most humorous part of this week, by far, was watching a video of one of my fellow interns performing in a drag show at school, with the whole design team. Again, I can't wait for what's ahead of me at my internship and will continue to keep posting about my experiences!

Week 2 @ Zac Posen: Current Event

I’ve recently read an article on Refinery29.com that addresses the growing use of healthier and “normal” weight models in fashion campaigns as well as making the workplaces more sustainable.  The article specifically targets H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson’s new plan to push his Bangladesh factories to increase the minimum wage and equal opportunities for the workers.  In addition, he plans to move towards using healthier models and veer away from the “too skinny” ones.  These changes may be a huge step for the rest of the fashion industry since H&M will no doubt be highly praised for these efforts. 

This change could effect how the workplace at my company, Zac Posen, chooses to move forward with its own advertising.  The switch to using more realistically sized models is a great idea for H&M, but since the target customer and luxury level difference between the companies is so large, Zac Posen may be better off by sticking to its usual curvy yet thin and leggy models.   I know that money is a huge issue everywhere, but the recent sustainable changes in H&M’s company may have a bigger effect on a company like Zac Posen.  In light of the recent tragedies in Bangladesh, this issue has hit the fashion industry hard and many are expecting large companies to make more sustainable changes.

 

I brought this article up to one of my fellow interns at Zac Posen and we were both in agreement on the topics.  We felt that the industry should follow in H&M’s footsteps and work to make changes in the images they are sending out to the public about what is beautiful in respect to weight and size.  It will be more appealing to the population as a whole if they recognize the issue that the industry models are thinner than what is normal or expected.  We also agreed on the fact that even though our company is known for treating its employees very well, there is always room for improvement on the topic of pay and sustainability.

Address for the article:

http://www.refinery29.com/2013/05/47680/hm-ceo-interview-sustainability

Image from a recent H&M campaign using the "curvier" Beyonce as a model

Week 2 at Zac Posen

Zac Posen has grown remarkably in the past few years.  Known for his beautiful and feminine gowns, Zac is a favorite among celebrities and is seen frequently on the red carpet.  His designs are most recognized for their sensual shapes and amazing detail. In addition to his couture gowns, Zac also has a less expensive line called Z Spoke, which features more ready-to-wear. 

The company has been known for its bustling and growing offices in Tribeca.  It has a great reputation among the industry and has been more than welcoming to all of its new interns, including myself.  I think that I fit into the company culture as it is more laid back than I had initially expected.  Everyone working there is extremely talented but fairly young, which makes it easy to connect with everyone.  Customer service in the company is impeccable as far as I know.  Multiple times, I’ve witnessed Zac showing his clients around the offices, making them feel more than welcome. 

Any mistakes that I’ve made in the office have been minor and the employees are always forgiving and understanding when they happen.  I’ve been learning so much from each mistake and continually improving at any tasks that are required of me. 

This past week, I moved into my NYU apartment.  It is a suite with two bedrooms, with 3 girls in each room.  Even though there are a lot of girls in the one living area, the space that we have is plenty and has been fine so far. 

Next week is press week at the offices and I’m looking forward to seeing the media and publishers come by and view the new Resort collection.  It’s great to see everything in its finished form after all of the hard work that was put into completing Resort last week!

Week 1 at Zac Posen as a Design Intern!

My internship is based in NYC at Zac Posen with the design team.  Last summer I was also in the city doing two part-time internships with designers, Parker and DEIVIE.  I learned more than I could've imagined and look forward to learning even more this time around!  My first day at the Zac Posen offices in TriBeCa was amazing.  I was toured around by the head of the design team along with 4 other interns that will be working with me this summer.  I learned that my time will be spent mostly in the "atelier" as they call it, which is basically a large room where the sewers, design team, and the fabric team do their work and create the fabulous gowns that dominate the industry.  Each seamstress has a large table and mannequin for him or her to drape and put together the beautiful gowns onto.  Across from the atelier is the showroom, which is adorned with beautiful mahogany interiors, gorgeous gowns, and dozens of handpicked flowers by Zac himself.  This first week was especially busy for the office because the couture Resort collection is being finished up as well as the newest season of Zac's lower-priced line, Z Spoke.  My duties throughout the week involved organizing bins of fabric and sew tests, running errands, picking out trims and beads that would be useful for future collections, and best of all…painting flower designs onto tulle to be used for one of the gowns being made!  I definitely can't wait to see that one when it's finished.  My favorite part of this week was seeing Zac Posen himself at the offices every day!  Zac looked as dapper as I could’ve imagined and was so personal and caring towards all of his employees.  I’ve learned that Zac is always at the offices and is more hands on and involved that I expected.  I must admit though, cuter than Zac himself is his mini poodle named Tina (for Tina Turner).   She is always running around the office and has definitely kept me laughing when I need a break from the craziness at work!

Another great surprise during my first week was being pulled aside by the head of production at Zac Posen and asked to model in some samples from the Z Spoke line for a few pictures.  The head of production liked me so much that she has been having me help her on some of her own tasks.  
  
Overall, I've learned that it is always best to accept all and any requests- you never know who you will run into or meet!  Also, due to the stormy weather this past week, I now know that flip flops or tennis shoes are a necessity to bring for running errands for my boss.  I look forward to continuing my painting on the gown I've been working on next week and seeing the Resort photo shoot that is scheduled for this upcoming Friday!  I've learned so much at Zac Posen already and truly cannot wait for what lies ahead of me this summer!