The devil wears... Club Monaco
My supervisor at my latest endeavour - interning for a fashion magazine - is hardly a devil, at all. On the contrary, she is kind and easygoing. Yet, on my first day as the real life Andy Sachs, I still found myself nervously teetering into the imposingly bustling and modern office, in my highest leather ankle booties. After signing in with security, one of my higher-ups came down to greet me, and give me “the grand tour.” In addition to the mag I now work for, my office building is also home to many other publications, as well as various communications and cable companies. Accordingly, navigating our way throughout to our particular office made me sort of feel like I was in a maze (this, however, can partly be accounted for due to the fact that the elevator moved at a dizzying speed).
After getting a good glimpse at my new environment, I was lead to my desk (I have my own desk!). A brand new 20' Mac desktop, phone with my own extension, and filing cabinet stocked with every office supply you could ever imagine greeted me. I have at my disposal all things I would call “9 — 5;” I feel like such an adult!
My first impression was that the office (for a fashion mag headquarters) was surprisingly calm. In my mind, I pictured it slightly chaotic: i.e. racks of clothing flying by, someone shouting desperately for their need of the other black Jimmy Choo platforms, and bags teeming with beauty loot. To my sheer delight however, at least I was right about the last part: there is an unimaginable amount of every lotion, potion, tonic, serum, balm, powder, gloss and polish you've ever heard of, and hundreds more of which you've never heard. Official intern task number one: sort through and categorize each aforementioned product, and separate appropriately by basket.
Although slightly daunting (there were actually 14 bags, each the size of a small suitcase EXPLODING with products), I was also pretty excited. Most, if not all of the goods were from the spring 2010 collections; thus, they will not be available for purchase until they hit stores in late February. For me, getting a sneak peek (ok, I fully opened and examined many of the palettes, jars and tubes) made me feel really privileged (and maybe a little self-satisfied too); I mean, I got to see the vibrating Dior lip gloss, before the makeup artists at the Dior counters!
After hours of checking out and sorting through the goods, I was then sent out on a mission. But, before I could embark, I had to call our stylist to get clear instruction of exactly what it was she was looking for: in this case, banana leaves and leaves that resembled lily pads (both were to be between four and six inches in order for the product to shoot well in sizing comparison). Part two of my outing required me to stop at a store in Yorkville, and pick up a bag of merchandise required for another campaign. I was given two charge slips for a taxi company, a map, and I was on my way.
The banana leaves turned out to be an easy find, but trying to locate lily pad-esque ones was a whole ‘other story. Three shops later, I found something vaguely convincing, and deemed it acceptable. Cursing myself for wearing the highest heels that I own, I walked the 12 blocks to the Yorkville store to grab the rest of the goods. Bonus: Dessert Lady was on the way back to my office, and so I scored myself a most delicious reward.
Proudly walking in with the items I was sent out to collect, there was little time for “show and tell.” The shoot for which the merch was required was taking place the following day, and we had 17 minutes exactly before the cut off to pack up the goods, and get them to the mailroom to be couriered out. This, was another task put in my charge.
After packing the boxes, and filling out the appropriate forms, I brought them down to our in-office mailroom. Next on my to-do list, was transcribing an interview with Halle Berry. Following that, I was to assist with researching some background information for an upcoming piece on fragrances.
While I may not be working for Anna Wintour, the low-key vibe and super nice supervisors, in my view, is far better than any Prada wearing devil.
After getting a good glimpse at my new environment, I was lead to my desk (I have my own desk!). A brand new 20' Mac desktop, phone with my own extension, and filing cabinet stocked with every office supply you could ever imagine greeted me. I have at my disposal all things I would call “9 — 5;” I feel like such an adult!
My first impression was that the office (for a fashion mag headquarters) was surprisingly calm. In my mind, I pictured it slightly chaotic: i.e. racks of clothing flying by, someone shouting desperately for their need of the other black Jimmy Choo platforms, and bags teeming with beauty loot. To my sheer delight however, at least I was right about the last part: there is an unimaginable amount of every lotion, potion, tonic, serum, balm, powder, gloss and polish you've ever heard of, and hundreds more of which you've never heard. Official intern task number one: sort through and categorize each aforementioned product, and separate appropriately by basket.
Although slightly daunting (there were actually 14 bags, each the size of a small suitcase EXPLODING with products), I was also pretty excited. Most, if not all of the goods were from the spring 2010 collections; thus, they will not be available for purchase until they hit stores in late February. For me, getting a sneak peek (ok, I fully opened and examined many of the palettes, jars and tubes) made me feel really privileged (and maybe a little self-satisfied too); I mean, I got to see the vibrating Dior lip gloss, before the makeup artists at the Dior counters!
After hours of checking out and sorting through the goods, I was then sent out on a mission. But, before I could embark, I had to call our stylist to get clear instruction of exactly what it was she was looking for: in this case, banana leaves and leaves that resembled lily pads (both were to be between four and six inches in order for the product to shoot well in sizing comparison). Part two of my outing required me to stop at a store in Yorkville, and pick up a bag of merchandise required for another campaign. I was given two charge slips for a taxi company, a map, and I was on my way.
The banana leaves turned out to be an easy find, but trying to locate lily pad-esque ones was a whole ‘other story. Three shops later, I found something vaguely convincing, and deemed it acceptable. Cursing myself for wearing the highest heels that I own, I walked the 12 blocks to the Yorkville store to grab the rest of the goods. Bonus: Dessert Lady was on the way back to my office, and so I scored myself a most delicious reward.
Proudly walking in with the items I was sent out to collect, there was little time for “show and tell.” The shoot for which the merch was required was taking place the following day, and we had 17 minutes exactly before the cut off to pack up the goods, and get them to the mailroom to be couriered out. This, was another task put in my charge.
After packing the boxes, and filling out the appropriate forms, I brought them down to our in-office mailroom. Next on my to-do list, was transcribing an interview with Halle Berry. Following that, I was to assist with researching some background information for an upcoming piece on fragrances.
While I may not be working for Anna Wintour, the low-key vibe and super nice supervisors, in my view, is far better than any Prada wearing devil.
