Interning in NYC

My latest interview with BARE Magazine:

1) How do you compare living in Berkeley and being in the Big Apple? Easy transition?
In Berkeley I was really in a bubble, among students and I was a student. Berkeley is more laid back. While NYC is CROWDED, people are everywhere and moving fast. They are going places (or at least it seems like it), and majority of them are rushing to catch the subway, or in a rush to hail a cab. Nonetheless, my time in NY is for work so living the 9-7 lifestyle is definitely a change…

The transaction has been much easier than I imagined. I think that it’s real important to know people in the city, this will probably make or break your experience. Luckily, I have a few friends here that have introduced me to others and so I’ve acclimated pretty well…

2) Congratulations on getting an internship with StyleCaster, can you tell our readers a bit more about what it is?
The most simple way to explain would be, imagine if facebook.com, style.com and shopbop had a baby, that baby would be StyleCaster! It’s a community of influencers, and experts. Our site offers everything from content, shopping, community to inspiration look books, basically it’s your one stop site for your fashion needs. When you sign up you have your “daily looks”, these are like inspiration looks for you but tailored to the weather in your area!

3) What’s your favorite part about StyleCaster? Why should we use it?
My favorite part, hmm… right off the bat would be the team I work with. I’m beginning to love my team they’re amazing people. They are people with character, brains and humor. We have fun, and get work done, and I respect that environment.! Each department works on different assignments but, together it creates a synergy because we all have the same goal. And that’s to bring and provide the best service to our community members and other people we collaborate with. I work with the business development team and I like being a part of StyleCaster because I feel like I bring value to the company while developing my skills. We’re constantly encouraged to think outside the box, and we have the freedom to make our ideas come to life which is invaluable experience.

You should use it because it’s the first fashion style site that personalizes and feeds you individualized information/content. It’s pretty neat. Everyone should try it, I’m sure you’ll get hooked!

4) How did you get your internship with StyleCaster?
Last semester I was really interested in social media and the dynamics of online communities, then I found StyleCaster and I was sold. I followed StyleCaster for a couple months and decided I had to be here, I applied, interviewed and voila here I am. I appreciate fashion and I’m exploring different components of the industry to discover where my skills can be of most value.

5) Finally, any tips for our readers who would want to get an internship in the fashion industry?
I don’t want to sound redundant, and everyone knows this but, it’s networking. And networking doesn’t mean just meeting people and having their contacts, it means forming relationships with people so they remember you. People are not going to put their name on the line for someone they don’t know and trust. Don’t worry, if you don’t know anyone that’s fine, the next tip is perseverance and persistence. Pick a few companies and apply apply apply, and get creative when sending your applications. I never sent my applications to HR, I always sent them directly to the person who I wanted to work with.

Read the original here…

Social Alchemy Club’s {PRE} Fashion Show Recap!

This event was well worth my journey; I got lost getting there, it literally took me 45 minutes to go 10 blocks, from my office to Mulberry Street! Also, if you’re wondering about the image on the left, I took the image from inside the showroom. A big boo boo was relying on my iphone for photographs, as shown in the quality of some of the images.

The venue was adorable, clean and definitely a great pick to host a fashion event. I couldn’t go to the after party at Delicatessen because this girl has work early early in the morning tomorrow. Nonetheless, I met some amazing designers who have amazing work…

I met with Alison Hessert, designer of Mixology NYC. Her jewelry collection is made locally in NYC and I loved her feather statement necklaces. Her inspiration comes from her childhood days and the vintage collection completely caught my eye.

The Magnes Sisters have a bag line (shown above) that also caught my eye! They were all so sweet, and silly, Yael and I posing with one of their clutch designs. And this is so like me to ruin the picture by covering the bag entirely with my hand! FYI: It’s the same bag Yael is holding, except in orange. We had A LOT to talk about because she loves bloggers, “ahem, thank you very much.”

The fashion show began around 7:30 ish: designer Jenny Hwa for Loyale and designer Brookelynn Starnes for Cloak & Dagger

Did you attend? What did or do you think? …

Social Alchemy Club’s {PRE} Fashion Show

{PRE} is being held on September 9th, the day before fashion week, and is a retail showcase, fashion show and after party for up and coming designers.  Designers will include Caycee Black, Loyale, Cloak + Dagger and others who have been featured in Elle, Vogue, Gossip Girl, and Lucky.

Here for more information…

I’ll do a show and tell about the event later this week!

Interview w/CEO Tony Hsieh of Zappos.com

I (for BARE Magazine) had a chance to do an interview with Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com and Eileen Lewis, Zappos’ Director of Fashion Strategy.

If you’ve never heard of Zappos, this is your chance to get to know the Best #1 company in terms of customer service. Fortune Magazine also rated it as “100 Best Companies To Work For”. I’ve been told stories, and I’m sure there’s a gazillion others, about the superiority of their service! A friend of mine told me someone actually called Zappos to order some pizza (making the long story short) and although Zappos is a retailer, the customer rep had pizza delivered to the house. I know, right? Even if this didn’

t happen, the fact a story like this exists goes to show their dedication in providing the best service to customers, like you and me. The story above might have stemmed from the fact that Tony had a pizza business in college before launching Zappos.com in 1999. Zappos is huge on delivering happiness to customers and employees …

How do you decide on your merchandise? Are you selective, or is it just based on the brands you know that can sell? 

We look at what the customers are asking for as well as the next hottest trends so that we always have what the customers what.

Do you track what the top brands or fashions are, and how? 
Yes, we constantly shop the market internationally as well as all of the media available to us.

Why did they decide to expand into clothing and jewelry? 
We want to deliver a better customer experience by having everything that our customers would need to complete the look. These were natural categories to go into next based on their volume on the web. We also sell bags, watches, eyewear, beauty, etc.

Can you tell us, based on your data, what one or two top trends are for the summer? 

For Clothing: Feminine Print and Bermuda Shorts

For Jewelry: Bug Jewelry and Leather Wrap Bracelets

They’re site offers everything, and trust me on their superb service! If you don’t believe me, check them out for yourself! Also, Tony is very active with his Zappos and the public community, here’s his twitter: http://twitter.com/Zappos. Don’t forget to follow me, and Bare Magazine too!

BARE Magazine i5

 

 

Our publication just got our hard copy of our fifth issue – “hooorah!”

 

If you want a copy, check here …

A fashion publication based on the UC Berkeley campus, BARE covers national topics with an emphasis upon life, style, and art around the Bay Area…

—————————————————————————————————-

This was my interview/story for the i-house feature

—————————————————————————————————-

Launch party tomorrow night at Henry’s, see you there?

….

Cultural Perspective: Japan, Fashion and Journalism

I had a great time chatting with Izumi Miyachi, a lecturer for the Spring semester at the Graduate School of Journalism, who is teaching a class on “Reporting on Japan”. She will be returning to Japan on May 23rd. 

Tell me a little about yourself?

Well, I was a deputy

 editor of the Lifestyle & Culture Section of Yomiuri Shimbun, the largest daily newspaper company in Japan. But, now I am a research fellow. I have been covering fashion since 1990. When I joined my company my goal was never to cover fashion, but to be a correspondent working in International Relations – so what I’m doing now is totally different from what I wanted to do. But, I began to find fashion very interesting. It definitely took some time to get used to because when I started writing about fashion it wasn’t so popular and most people considered fashion to be more superficial.

I remember you told me you were the first to attend Fashion Week from your company, how did that happen?

Oh yes, I read a lot of other English newspapers like the New York Times and the International Herald Tribune and the biggest difference was the articles on fashion, especially Fashion Week in Milan or Paris. So, I proposed to my boss, “if you want to be more prestigious as a newspaper company you need to cover fashion abroad”. They didn’t listen; it took 3 years of persistence with constant reminders at lunches and dinners to persuade them. Eventually, my boss understood the whole situation and agreed to begin covering fashion. So, I was the first reporter to cover Fashion Week every season covering Paris, Milan and New York.

Woooo, how exciting! It must have been so glamorous to attend Fashion Week and all those shows…

Well, see that’s what everyone thinks, that its gla-a-a-morous, but it’s actually not. You see, I was not attending the shows as a customer or celebrity; so covering fashion week was actually tough work. When I first started attending it was real hard to get a seat because I wasn’t well known. My first season was all ST (standing), and so I had to stand, sit where there was a seat or climb to an area where I could get a good view. You don’t call that glamorous you see. Of course there were parties and receptions, but I couldn’t attend because I spent my nights writing my articles. As a newspaper reporter or journalist you have to go to fashion shows you don’t want to see or that you don’t like. My worst day, I saw 10 fashion shows and I didn’t have time for lunch or the bathroom.

Besides the starvation and running around everywhere, what kept you going?

Oh, when I saw a truly good show it made up for everything, all the work I did! It didn’t happen often, and after seeing so many shows you can tell which are good and which are bad. Some can be very boring.

Well, you just mentioned you can tell what’s good/bad, what’s the criteria in your eyes that make a good fashion show?

Of course it’s a matter of design, but this is a good and difficult question … Well, it’s the balance of the whole show. The location of their show, the length of the show, and the music because its important, it can change the atmosphere of the show. The most important is design.

Ok, if you had a choice of all designers in the world, who would you prefer and why?

I would definitely say Comme des Garcons designed by Rei Kawakubo.

She’s a Japanese designer and people in fashion will and should know Rei Kawakubo. I’m very proud that she’s a Japanese designer, her style is very avant-garde and her designs empower women in many ways. She started fashion shows in Paris in the beginning of the 1980’s and she’s been very influential to young designers. Especially Marc Jacobs, I believe he’s a great fan of her work/designs. At first, her clothes might seem strange; it’s a different sense of beauty from the Western perspective. When I first attended her show, I didn’t know how to write about it and ended up not writing about her show the first season I attended… Students should try to write about a fashion show, it’s a good exercise.

Well, what do you think are important things to incorporate into a fashion show article?

What is unique and new about the designs. First you should be able to read from the clothes what the designer is trying to express. But, to do that you need to study and understand the history and techniques of the clothes themselves. You can discuss the lengths and shapes of the clothes but that’s not enough, it’s only the beginning. You must know or study the history of fashion, or know more about fabrics and how they are made, and also know what’s happening in society. Many designers feel the atmosphere and try to express what’s happening in society into their designs and you must be able to read that. And all that should be incorporated into your writing.

What is your favorite magazine to read and why?

I like Vogue. Some of their articles are very interesting to me, because they write about all kinds of women, working women and they try to empower women. I also enjoy their advertisements, and seeing what companies and brands they choose to feature in their magazine.

Last time we spoke I remember that job hunting in Japan is a bit different from the US?

Yes, students in their senior year have to take an exam held about once a year by the company and individuals who pass the exam then go on to interview.

Wow, that’s strange…

Well, some people work freelance and have contracts with several companies but you can’t make much money. To work in the fashion industry it’s better to work for an international company. Also, internships are not so popular in Japan as they are here in the US.

What did you experience as a cultural shock in terms of fashion at Berkeley?

Well, people in Berkeley don’t seem to be so interested in fashion or they are interested but have their own individual styles and are content, meaning I don’t see the majority of people following trends. Whereas in Japan they are very trendy and follow the fast pace changes in fashion.

What would you consider a Japanese contribution to fashion?

I think in many ways such as Deco Art, or the way people put together their clothes. Street fashion started during the 1990’s in Japan and ordinary people have been most powerful in the direction of trends by creating and altering their own clothes.

Any advice or last words you would like to mention:

One thing to remember when you become involved within the fashion industry is to stay humble and remember why you first entered the industry. Also, if you’re an undergrad student don’t concentrate too much in fashion because you have to study other things and know more about your society, culture, business, etc.

——————————-

She was real sweet and shared some links that are worth your peek:

Kawaii☆TV (Click on My Kawaii)

Japan Video Topics (You can see about Deco (nail and glitzy art) Art at the bottom)

Style-Arena (this site is cute)

——————————-

Btw, did you know the Forever 21 is preparing to make it’s presence known and is launching in Japan … 

 

Also on the BARE blog…

“Get your designer nails” update – Anri Interview

In January I wrote a post here about my 3-D nails from Hawaii by Anri (Salon Cherie) from my last visit there. 

 

“I’ve been getting a lot of questions and requests on my first post GET YOUR DESIGNER NAILS  …” again so I wanted to follow up with an interview with my friend Anri on nail design.

—————————————————————————————————–

Anri is from Japan, currently residing in Honolulu, Hawaii!

So how did you know you wanted to get into nail design? How long have you been doing this?

I loved having nail art from when I was in Japan. About 8 years ago I was a student in Hawaii I felt I should start to learn how to do it myself and if I could do my own design it would be so fun. So I started to study about the nails and went back to Japan to learn how to make nice designs.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I enjoy seeing the clients face and reaction when I finish my nail art. It always makes me happy to see my clients so excited about their nails. This always makes me want to think of more designs!

What advice or recommendations do you have for people aspiring to do what you do?

You should love what you do. It’s not a job it’s a hobby

I remember you attended school in Hawaii and Japan, what are your thoughts about that?

I grew up in Japan, but I’m happy I came to Hawaii for school. I met my husband, learned English, and made many friends. I love both Japan and Hawaii!

How important is it to go to school for this profession? Or can someone with enough technique just jump right into it?

The school is important in the US because you need a license to do it. Of course, technique is very important but without going to the school you cannot start working.

What are the perks and drawbacks of your job? What do you enjoy most?

I enjoy it most because it is my hobby, I love nail art. Honestly, I see no drawbacks for me. I love my job 100%.

—————————————————————————————————–

BAREing It All: Fashion and Journalism

“On Tuesday night students gathered in the library of UC Berkeley’s School of Journalism in Northgate Hall for a BARE’s first panel discussion, “BAREing It All: Fashion and Journalism.” The event has been a long time vision of the BARE staff and was organized by staffer Jooyoun Kim, a third year media studies major who says she has always wanted have a fashion journalism panel at Berkeley.

The four speakers at the panel included Melissa Davis, CEO of Ruby Press, Shalwah Evans, BARE’s mentor and graduate student at UC Berkeley’s School of Journalism, Helen Zhu, UC Berkeley alumnus and founder of popular fashion social networking site Chictopia.com, and Nick Burns, the writer of men’s grooming blog hommegrooming.com and graduate student at UC Berkeley’s School of Journalism.”

I moderated my first and BARE’s first ever panel series! It was went really well, the topics of discussion all revolved around fashion journalism and what it is today. 

Of course we discussed the economy and it’s affect on us (students). Few points of encouragement that really stuck with me: take advantage of this recession and get creative! Also, take courses that teach you different components of the web and build your web presence…

 

 

 

 More about the panel read the coverage from BARE’s blog…