Teen Vogue Fashion U (TVFU) is a weekend in New York City
full of seminars taught by designers, stylists, editors, and major moguls in
the fashion industry. Some of this year’s speakers include Rachel Roy, Erika
Bearman (Oscar PR Girl), & representatives from TOPSHOP, Guess,
LOOKBOOK.nu, Teen Vogue & many other well-known brands.
I got the privilege of hearing from seventeen of the
industry’s most notorious designers and editors. What they had to say was
extremely helpful, knowledgeable and ultimately helped me decide what I want to
do with the rest of my life. Even though a majority of you have probably never
experienced this event, I still want to share what I learned from the window.
So bear with me as I sum up two days’ worth of information!
SESSION 1: The
Visionary by Grace Coddington
If you are an apparel/retail student (or highly interested
in fashion at all) and you don’t know who Grace Coddington is, you’re a little
behind. The model-turned-editor is the brains and creativity behind every photo
shoot that’s ever been in American Vogue since
1988. As the Creative Director of Vogue Magazine, Grace is responsible for
all of the photo shoots in the magazine from the styling to location and
photographers to models. But before ruling the fashion industry in America, she
spent nine years modeling and nineteen at British Vogue. Grace said the transition from modeling to editing was all
because at photo shoots, editors would notice how critical she was when they
would try to style her for the shoots. She was in her late 40’s when she moved
to New York City and would forever say that “it’s fabulous”.
If you’re familiar with Grace’s work, you will know that 99%
of her shoots are on location. She feels that, “there’s a different approach
in-studio” & that there needs to be a story with the photos. She tends to
take inspiration from fairytales and says that her all-time favorite shoot was
an “Alice in Wonderland” inspired theme featuring designers as characters.
Grace says that her favorite part about fashion is how it’s
always evolving, surprising, and changing. Though, she doesn’t like “computer
Vogue”. She says that she gets emotional when it comes to fashion; she likes to
be at every shoot, show, etc. She also loves to talk with designers ad look at
how carefully an item is made. She “[doesn’t] like something that’s badly
made.”
My favorite thing about TVFU was hearing Grace talk about
fashion. It was awe inspiring to hear her talk so humbly about her position and
views on fashion. She says it’s mesmerizing and it “makes you feel happy…it’s
an international language.”
Grace’s tips for students:
When you’re an intern, don’t think you’re just
coming to watch. People are ALWAYS watching YOU, so make sure you’re the first
person to respond to someone. They’re looking for your response and reaction.
You’re going to work long, late hours if you want
to be successful.
Designers: be UNIQUE, not a copy of another
designer
Dress up/well! She LOVES to see how interns
dress
If you want to work for Grace Coddington, you
MUST love cats!
SESSION 2: The
Glamour Guru by Prabal Gurung
Born in Singapore, American designer Prabal Gurung wasn’t
the typical student. After going through high school as the ‘outcast’, Prabal
traveled all over the world and finally ended up at Parsons New School for
Design in New York City. He won the Fusion Design Competition and interned for
Donna Karan before working with the wonderful Bill Blais for five years as the
design director. In the fall of 2009, Prabal and a few friends went into
unemployment and launched his very first line with no money – just support. He
was also supported by Mac and Bumble & Bumble who donated products for
Prabal’s first runway showcase. From then on, its history!
All of Prabal’s first employees were old co-workers and
friends who believed in him. His first collection did so well that it covered Women’s Wear Daily’s Valentine’s Day
spread, modeled by his good friend, Zoe Saldana; and if you know WWD, that is
HUGE! But despite his outrageous spring to fame, Prabal owes his real jump to
the top to Demi More. Demi wore one of his gowns to Fashion Week and then
tweeted, “a wonderful designer to look out for.” This tweet changed the course
of his business (and also increased his follower count by a lot)!
Like mentioned before, Prabal was independently financed.
His mother was not impressed that he decided to design clothing instead of an
alternate option. She said to him, “when the First Lady wears
your clothes, let’s talk.” Two seasons later, none other
than Michelle Obama wore his gown to the Smithsonian. Prabal was at Paris
Fashion Week at the time and called his mother saying, “mom, let’s talk” and
she knew exactly what he was going to say. Now she and his family are extremely
impressed and Prabal is up to designing eight collections per year.
One of my favorite things about Prabal’s session was the way
he talked about women. So many guys these days disrespect women but Prabal is
intrigued and inspired by the women he designs for, “my process is always the
girl.” He also talks about fashion in the way he talks about women; “you have
to love it.” He, as well as Ms. Coddington, say that working in fashion is 95%
hard work and “you have to think about your intention” he doesn’t want to hear
about people going into it for fame or delusions of grandeur. One student asked him how he got his
overnight success and how he dealt with it; he responded with, “my overnight
success was following 10+ years of hard work.” He says that if everything is
taken away, he still has his love, passion, and talent for fashion. If you have
that, you have the right motivation.
When asked about the pros and cons of the fashion industry,
Prabal gushed about the amount of support in the fashion world, “there are a
lot of fairy god mothers in the industry.” Even after leaving Donna Karan, Bill
Blais, & Carolina Herrara, he still had support from those companies to
being his business. He stressed that the fashion industry isn’t always like the
Devil Wears Prada, but he would change the fact that is till is superficial and
not very isolating. But his work and the outcome of each show is “so
fulfilling”, it’s worth it.
Some of my favorite things Prabal said:
“Talent will find its way.”
“You have to take risks.”
“Isolation is key for creativity”
“There is a certain part of your brain that
doesn’t work until you go [to India].”
“If one person
likes it, I’ll consider it a job well done.”
SESSION 3: The
Entrepreneur by Nicole Richie
I’m sure everyone remembers Nicole Richie from her Simple Life days. But since, she’s
closed off the media and has focused on her family while still creating a
wonderful set of businesses. Nicole grew up on tour with her father, Lionel
Richie, and although her first love was music, followed by figure skating,
Nicole’s love for fashion sparked with her father’s costume designer. The woman
would make costumes for Nicole to wear all the time and Nicole even started to
create them herself. Now as an adult, Nicole has created two lines, Winter Kate
& House of Harlow, that reflect the traveling she’s done through her life,
as well as inspiration from the 1960’s and 70’s; she was drawn to the fact that
in that time “clashing didn’t exist.”
Throughout the hour session, Nicole stressed that
“fashion…is the ultimate form of self-expression.” She was also extremely
focused on the merchandising aspect of both of her lines (this is for you
Apparel & Retail majors). She says “it’s always important to study who your
customer is.” She says that she tends to go into the stores where her lines are
sold and study the way her items are displayed and how her customers are reacting
to it. She is extremely hands on with her business and tends to study A LOT
before launching a new one. She also likes to take her time with each line
because her family comes first. Nicole likes her designs to grow with her and
when she’s at a point in her life that she’s ready to create a new line, she
will; “I’m not just going to throw my name on something to add another category.” Basically saying she’s not a Kardashian, Nicole
says that she doesn’t associate herself with either of her brands. She’s not
the face of them, the clothing speaks for itself and then she benefits from any
criticism she gets from it, “there’s a difference in being an artist and being
a brand…in this business, you have to be both”.
Soon, Nicole will be launching a fine jewelry line and wants
to eventually do a home goods and children line. Her and husband, Joel Madden,
have also started a foundation for children called the Richie-Madden Children’s
Foundation.
My favorite quote from Nicole’s seminar:
“Style is very personal…there’s not one
definition of classy or edgy [etc].”
SESSION 4: The Flower Child by Erin Featherston
I’m going to be honest, I hadn’t
heard of Erin Featherston until I was switched into her seminar. Erin had a
pretty untraditional beginning to her career. She got a liberal arts degree at
the University of California – Berkeley and then went to design school at
Parsons in Paris. She launched her first line in 2004 in Paris and then moved
back to the states. In 2009, Erin was inducted to the Council of Fashion
Designers of America.
When Erin started, the look was
very boho grunge and celebs were seen wearing trashy outfits without underwear
(ehem, Britney Spears). But she has never been too concerned with current
trends and stuck with her aesthetic which if you didn’t know, is VERY girly!
Plus, her favorite part about being a designer is the inspiration and creation
process. Erin said that even though she
didn’t live in a very fashion forward area, she did everything to do with
fashion. She stresses doing internships and interview with the attitude of
“I’ll do anything”. She says that she loves interns that are outgoing yet
tenacious and have that type of attitude of “I’ll do anything.” She also says
that when you dress for an interview, dress for the job. For example, if you’re
interviewing with Erin Featherston, dress like what her brand represents. You
don’t necessarily have to wear her brand head to toe, but don’t dress boho-edgy
when her style is girly-romantic. Erin also talked about criticism
and what she said is now one of my favorite quotes:
“Just count the lines. It
doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad – they’re still writing about you."
SESSION 5: Phillip Lim
I was originally in Rachel Roy’s
seminar at this time, but she cancelled and they sent everyone to Phillip’s
seminar and I am so glad they did! Phillip is one of my favorite designers and
I’m not sure why I didn’t see his seminar when registering, but anyway…
Phillip Lim has “always had a love
affair with clothes.” After getting a degree at Cal State in Home Economics and
an emphasis in Merchandising and was skip his last year of college to pursue an
incredible opportunity as an intern-turned-design assistant at Katayone Adeli.
In 2000, he co-founded a clothing line and left Katayone Adeli. Since then, 3.1
Phillip Lim has been a revolutionary brand.
Phillip was so incredibly humble
and had a wonderful sense of humor. He describes his style as grunge and says,
“Taking something linear and making it nonlinear, that’s grunge.” If any of you
are familiar with Phillip’s work, you know this is exactly what his designs
represent. He says that grunge is “Taking a line and cutting it up and
rearranging [it]” and that he is grunge as well, “I’m all mixed up, all
layered.”
Phillip stressed that traveling,
interning, & making experiences for yourself is essential, “there’s nothing
that can replace a direct experience. You can’t look that up, you can’t Google
that.” He also says to never say never because there are no absolutes. He, like
Prabal, had parents who expected him to be a doctor or lawyer – anything but a
designer. But he continuously says that there is a “simple love story between
me and clothes.” That’s something a true designer would say. He also says that
he is “not a revolutionary designer, I’m an evolutionary designer,” something
that his fans might disagree with. The man is
revolutionary whether he sees it or not.
A couple of my favorite things
that Phillip said were:
“When you’re labeled, you’re labeled.”
For something you don’t necessarily like, how
can you fix it to make it right?
Read the book Wabisabi!
“You have
to do what’s authentic to you.”
SESSION 6: Amy Astley
+ the Teen Vogue Editors
The whole session by Amy Astley and the Teen Vogue Editors
was a Q&A session so a lot of the questions were very specific but I
decided to introduce each of the presented editors, the most memorable thing
about them, & some advice they give for interns!
Amy Astley – Editor-In-Chief
Amy is
the founding EIC of Teen Vogue, hand-picked by Anna Wintour herself! She has
been named one of Forbes magazine’s most powerful U.S. fashion editors. A
23-year veteran of the Conde Nast brand and opened up yearly Teen Vogue events
such as TVFU, the Young Hollywood party and the Teen Vogue bedding collection.
Gloria Baume – Fashion Director
Born in
Italy, Gloria moved to New York and now works as the Fashion Director of Teen
Vogue. Her accent is to die for and she has the cutest style! Many style blogs
such as the Sartorialist have mentioned her countless times.
Elane Welteroth – Beauty Director
Elane has actually only been working for Teen Vogue since
the Monday before TVFU! The editors joked with her during the interview that
they already had her working weekends. But Elane has worked at many other
fashion publications in and out of the Conde Nast company. She was extremely
sweet and knew a lot about fashion and journalism. The whole panel talked a lot
about being a kid and staying a kid for as long as you can. Elane added to this
by saying, “One of the most valuable intern experiences I had, was at an
internship I did not enjoy because it taught me everything I don’t want in my
job.”
Jane Keltner de Valle – Senior Fashion and New Editor
Jane
was an English and Art History at Barnard College & Columbia University.
Jane says to Teenvogue.com “I would encourage pursuing a liberal arts degree
over a fashion one. Unless you want to be a designer, it is absolutely not
necessary to go to fashion school.” She was dressed so cute at the interview
and was extremely knowledgeable, especially when asked about college/career
topics.
Sheena Smith – Accessories Director
Sheena
is one of Teen Vogue’s faces on twitter as well as in the magazine. The stylish
editor posts hundreds of tweets surrounding the daily life at Teen Vogue. When
the panel was talking about being and staying a kid, Sheena added, “This is a
good time in your life to explore those other opportunities that you won’t get
a chance to do when you all of a sudden work in an office everyday.”
Andrew Bevan – Style Features Editor
Andrew,
Andrew, Andrew. Google him, seriously. This guy is such a character and so
sweet! He was the person who interviewed Erin Featherston for her session and
their friendship showed through so much during it. They joked around like
little kids – maybe because he still is on? Or he wishes he was! Because when
the panel was talking, he jumped in and said, “Be inspired by being a kid.
There’s so much pressure on internships as if it’s your only chance to make
things happen, and it’s not.”
SESSION 7: The
Digital Panel
This session focused on fashion in the digital age and
featured six people who work in the digital fashion market. This was also a
very Q&A focused session so I’m going to list some of my favorite quotes
and advice from the panel.
“There’s a way to be loud and proud…without
insulting someone.” – Treena Lombardo, Shopbop
Do be honest & try to keep your information
private. – Huan Nguyen – Lookbook.nu
“Manners that apply to life, apply to social
media.” – Treena
“Major in something you’re passionate about, not
just journalism.” – Danica Lo, StyleBistro
“Keep your individualism in sight.” – Danica
“Use the next 4-6 years to beome so special with
your talent.” – Rebecca Minkoff, designer
“Immerse yourself.” – Huan
It’s important to have your own online presence,
i.e. blog. – Treena
“Approach your art like a science.” – Rebecca
Be aware of the conversations you have online. –
Nadia Hussain, Polyvore
Not only were we able to hear from these incredible
speakers, but we got PRIVATE SHOPPING EVENTS at H&M & TOPSHOP!! I
didn’t go to the TOPSHOP event, but the H&M event was so much fun
The experiences I had going to TVFU have truthfully changed
how I view the next 3-4 years of my life as well as my career after that. It’s
crazy to say that one weekend changed so much but it really did. Teen Vogue
Fashion U is such an incredible event and the opportunities I was given were so
unique. I suggest anyone interested in fashion – Retail/Apparel major or not –
to apply for TVFU next spring! The event is life changing and inspiring. I had
to pull a lot of strings to get myself to NYC, but it was so worth it.
