As some students were traveling the world while others were catching up with summer classes, I was spending my summer at the Oscar de la Renta offices in New York City. (Cue the line from “The Devil Wears Prada”: “A million girls would kill for this job.”) Because of this exact movie, I feel like I have an obligation to first and foremost confront any doubts people may have about prominent individuals in the fashion industry. As I boarded the plane, a million thoughts scrambled in my mind. “Will my internship supervisor be a Miranda Priestley?” “Will I get to meet the man behind the brand himself?” But on my very first day, those same doubts and everything else that had me anxious and nervous soon ceased.
While most students who take an internship are usually in their second-to-last or last year of college, I decided to go ahead and start racking up the experience after finishing my first year. I knew I wanted to intern with an organization or company that catered to my interests: fashion and writing. Knowing how exclusive the fashion industry is, I tried to my best not to dream too big. It may have just been luck or it might have been my extensive resumé and interview, but getting the internship of my dreams came easier than I thought. I interned with the buyer of the company along with the director of retail. Though I mainly worked with these two individuals, I still assisted others such as the operations manager and even the sales associates at the store on Madison Avenue.
My tasks included preparing different types of inventory reports, building buy collages, entering style numbers in the POS system and preparing purchase orders. At the Madison store, I helped the sales associates assist their clientele, send gowns and other garments to the seamstress for alterations, organize the stock room and send purchases on deliveries with messengers.
None of that seemed like the typical intern duties of making copies and fetching Starbucks, but there was one thing that did make me uncomfortable. One day I had to attend a fur training with my internship supervisor at another Oscar de la Renta boutique located in Manhasset, an area of Long Island, NY. At the fur training, a manager of Oscar de la Renta’s fur company informed the sales associates of the different fur coats, jackets and vests from the fall collection that were available for purchase. The manager went on to describe the different types and variations of fur that included fox, chinchilla and even lamb. As a huge animal-lover, it made me really uncomfortable to see fur coats that were worth up to $125,000. Knowing that each coat required more than one of these small and adorable furry creatures made me so sad. But it was a learning experience because I learned how to be around something that I didn’t enjoy and still act professional.
So, why did I love this internship? Aside from the learning experience I gained over three months, the humble people of Oscar de la Renta (open and always willing to answer my questions), I saw the many different aspects of not only the company, but of the industry as a whole. Assisting people of different positions within the company provided a chance to truly get to know the daily routine of life in the fashion industry.
This summer was, by far, the most interesting summer I have ever experienced in my 19 years of living, and I give all the credit to the people of Oscar de la Renta. No matter how early I had to wake up in order to take the subway to the city or the uncomfortable moment that went against things I stood for, there wasn’t a single day that I wasn’t grateful for that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Sure it was unpaid, but the experiences I had and the networking that I did has so much value and truly benefited me so much more. (Not to mention, I got to meet Oscar de la Renta on my very first day of work!)
This internship was full of new experiences, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Even though I was born in New York and am a consistent visitor, having an actual job in the heart of the city made it feel like a whole new place. I soaked in every aspect of the New York fashion culture that I could, met people I never knew I would and made professional relationships with them. I got to see tangible changes being enforced in the company — changes that I was a part of.
My internship supervisor invited me to intern for the company again next summer, and of course I didn’t hesitate to accept. My position next year will allow me to work with the Public Relations team of the company —yep, you read correctly. Next summer, I’ll be doing what I love: writing. And not just about anything, but about fashion and even better, the fashion of my favorite designer.
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