Hello Everyone! I wanted to go into a little more detail about my life and how I ended up in the fashion industry! A lot of you have asked on my Instagram story and as promised I am sharing my life with you in one long post 🙂
Not to sound cliché but I always had an eye for fashion. It wasn’t until I was 16 that I made up my mind and knew I wanted to go to college for fashion. My high school offered fashion class for the juniors and seniors and I was able to take two years of it staring as a junior! The class was a mix of the business of fashion and also design. From looking at sketches come to real life, to feeling the fabrics- I just couldn’t get enough. Being that I am horrible at drawing, I knew that I would go for the business aspect of the industry. I fell in love with everything about it.
Also in my junior year of high school, the college FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) offered high school juniors and seniors to take a 3 hour class on Saturday mornings. I signed up for this along with one of my HS friends at the time. It was super fun and it gave us a little glimpse of college class life. The class was more for design (as is the school) so I knew design was a definite no for me.
Fast forward to our senior year of high school, I only applied to two colleges: LIM (Laboratory Institute of Technology) and Montclair State University. I was accepted to both, but my parents and I couldn’t justify spending that much money at LIM. Therefore, I went to Montclair State University. Not saying this was much cheaper, but it was the most logical. Montclair State had a general fashion studies program at the time. I now hear that they have a more developed fashion program which is great to hear!
In December 2011, I graduated from Montclair State University with a BA in Fashion and Cum Laude. I already had a job lined up the start of the new year (2 weeks after I graduated). Everything seemed to be falling into place. I graduated a semester earlier than I was supposed to and I had a job lined up in the heart of the fashion world- New York City.
I worked for a small wholesale company from 2012-2014 called SL Fashions. They made dresses and evening wear for companies such as Macys, Dressbarn, Belk and so on. The wholesale side of the industry was definitely not for me but I did learn a lot in the 2 years that I was there. I didn’t have an exact title. They kind of just threw me wherever they needed me. I helped the designers out, the showroom sales people, and the production people. There were times where I would try on the samples for the buyers for hours! It was fun to feel like a “model” for the day but super tiring. What really drained me out was the commute from North Jersey to the City every day. It wasn’t a long commute but it could get long if there was bad weather or an accident; just like any other job. However, I wanted something in New Jersey just for the sake of having my own car and I didn’t have to rush for a train or a bus. I am a suburbs girl, I can take NYC in small doses and for leisure only.
In 2014 I started a job in Jersey, not too much closer than NYC but at least it was in NJ. I was an allocator for a social dress company called Camille La Vie (Group USA). I had no idea what an allocator was nor did I have the experience, but I learned so much. For those that do not know, and to simplify it, an allocator sends product (clothing, accessories, shoes etc.) to the stores based on need!
After a year there, I was itching to go back to school for my graduate degree because I love to learn and I had also saved enough money to do so. I applied to LIM (Laboratory Institute of Merchandising) for their graduate program and in a blink of an eye I started graduate school in the beginning of 2015. A lot of people questioned why I didn’t go to grad school while I was working in NYC (since the school is also in NYC). I didn’t have the money to do so at the time. I worked in the industry for 3 years and had saved enough to finally go back to school. So I was working full time in NJ and going to graduate school part time in NYC.
After working almost 3 years at CLV, I applied to Ralph Lauren in November 2016; one month before graduating grad school. I started right after Thanksgiving; on Cyber Monday. I was hired as a Distribution Analyst (also known as allocator), promoted to Inventory Planning Analyst, and now a Store Planning Analyst.
Getting back to Grad School- it was one of the most stressful but amazing times of my life. I met so many different people from different walks of life. It wasn’t like when I was getting my undergrad degree. At the time, I would cry so much about being so overworked and stressed and questioned why I went back to school. However, now I see it as one of the most amazing accomplishments of my life! I graduated in December 2016 with an MPS in Fashion Merchandising and Retail Management.
