Work Placement Contact Details
Company Name Arcadia – Dorothy Perkins
Type of Company Design (retail chain)
The work placement itself•
Briefly describe your role within the placement, the duration of your placement and a short evaluation of what you have learnt through the experience?
• What do you feel you have gained on a practical, personal and professional level?
My placement was for 3 weeks, within the Design department of Dorothy Perkins, whilst I was there my role was such of a design assistant. I did numerous different tasks whilst I was there:
• Colour sourcing
• Fabric sourcing
• Trend boards and Ideas
• Sewing garments and embellishing (ready for press day)
• Photographing garments to send out to press
• Designing
• Embellishment designs
• Preparing design packs (photocopying boards, gathering fabric swatches)
• Sitting in on supply meetings
• Preparing outfits for press day
I have learnt from my experience, how a brand works towards a market level and how the designers know what works and what doesn’t work for their customer for example – when designing jackets they tend not to design them with zips down the front because they don’t sell well in store. There are quite a lot of restrictions for the designers to deal with such as: budget, time, market level, trends and does it fit in with the rest of the collection, this makes it quite a tense atmosphere as they have to consider what everyone else is doing as well. The designs go back to a more basic level, with a lot of emphasis put on print and embellishment rather than cut and shape of the garments. The basic garments are developed and improved upon for each season. I did find it exciting knowing what the new trends for this Autumn/Winter and Spring/Summer of next year were going to be, its good knowledge to have to understand and know what you’re going to do next.
I have also gained from my experience that most designers tend not to stay in a job role for a long period of time, this was clear from the high turnover of staff that they had and also that many of the team had said that 3 -4 years was the longest that they had stayed in any job – I think that this is down to the restrictions they have when designing, so it becomes quite repetitive after a while.
I definitely now have more of an understanding of how the industry works, and can see how the buyers, merchandisers and designers all have to work together to produce the best thing for their market and for the season.
Conversations and visits
Briefly describe any visits you made, conversations with practitioners and organisations or any other contact with the creative industries you have made before and since your work placement.
Before my placement, the conversations that I had with the creative industries where via email and when I received news that I had got my placement at Arcadia it was via a telephone call. I did not make any visits and I did not have an interview for the placement.
Whilst I was on my placement I had contact with several different areas within the industry – the press – magazines such as ‘heat’ and ‘Ok’ organising booking garments for photo shoots, Contact with suppliers – chasing up when garment samples were going to ready and with the creative director talking about what work I have been doing and what would be ready for the press day.
Other Research
What other research have you undertaken into the creative industries? List the websites you have visited, journals read and any other information you have gathered. What have you gained from this?
The research that I have done into the creative industries was mostly through researching on the internet and looking in journals for personal reviews and reflections.
Whilst I was on my placement I spoke to all of the design team, asking them about their personal experience and the job roles that they have encountered, this gave me a real insight to what different job roles actually include and the type of hours, pay and work that is required of you.
Websites visited:
www.drapersonline.com
www.fashioncapital.com
www.fashionunited.co.uk
www.prospects.ac.uk/links/fashiondes/
www.career-descriptions.co.uk/fashion-buyer-career
Portfolio/work
What comments have been made about your work/portfolio during discussions with people in creative industries? What was the feedback and how are you going to act on it? At this point what do you feel you are missing from your portfolio in order to secure future jobs or post-graduate places?
As I did not have an interview for my placement, I didn’t get the chance to show them my portfolio, So the only feedback that I have had on my work s from my tutors.
Before I show my portfolio I would like to get the opinions of my tutors and fellow students to see what they think works well and what doesn’t. Before I applied to any post-graduate jobs I would like to take some time preparing my portfolio so it showed the best of my work and made sure that I was going in the right direction. I was always have someone else look over my work before showing it so I know what their reaction was so that I knew what to expect.
Comparisons•
Make comparisons between your experiences and other peoples. What does this tell you about your expectations of the industry as a whole, what are they looking for in a graduate student?
• Try to take a broader approach than your own to understanding the creative industries; your work placement is only one element of a very diverse industry, listen to other peoples experiences and compare them to your own.
From working at my placement, I talked to quite a lot of the younger people that were working there and asked them about their experiences of work; It seemed quite clear that some major high end companies exploit their workers, I heard about two different people that were working for Alexander McQueen and the hours they were expected to work were ridiculous, from eight in the morning until ten at night, even later if they had to. They were expected to do all the running around and jobs that people didn’t want to do, and as one person named it ‘slave labour’. I know that I wouldn’t be able to cope in an industry that works like that, I’d feel very undervalued and it would definitely be something destructive.
I think if I had to chose I would rather work for a place that wasn’t so high end and treated there staff with value and respect than work for somewhere just because of the name. I would want to be in an encouraging environment not somewhere that dictates orders and direction.
Career Plan
What sort of job are you looking for and where are you intending to live when you finish the course? List the actually companies/organisations that maybe potential employers. Which of these companies are you interested in and why?
I think once I finish university, I would like to work as part of a design team, I always thought that design wasn’t the area that I wanted to work in, but after my placement, I have a completely different view. I would like to do some different experience within the fashion photography and marketing side of things to get an understanding of what that part of the industry is like and then hopefully decide from there. Obviously I would have to start as a design assistant/Junior designer if I was to work as part of a design team, but I think that is the best way to gain experience.
I think my long term goal would to be to run my own business or have my own line of products in a store somewhere, I think that is where my true passion lies and I think that is the best way to really express your personal creativity.
After working at Arcadia I would most definitely consider working there, even if it was for a short period of time, or even if it was to clarify exactly what I wanted to do.
But I think that I would like to work for a large scale company in whatever area I chose to go into.
• Arcadia – Lipsy – Debenhams – Firetrap – Oasis - River island
I will move back home for a while once I have finished University which is close to London, depending on the job that I get, I may move further into London for a few years until I am settled in a job that I like.
Action Plan
What are the gaps in your knowledge, experience and understanding of working in the fashion industry or applying for post-graduate study? What do you need to learn while still at college and how are you going to go about doing that?
I think that I need to try and do some more work experience in different areas so I have a clear view of what different jobs would consist of and what I would need to do to be able to get a job working in that specific area.
I think that all the contacts that you meet you need to stay in touch with as I think that this is the quickest way to progress within the industry. I think I need to learn whilst still at college the best way to present my portfolio so that I have the best chance at any interviews that I do manage to get, I also think that I need to know the best way to get a start in the business. I am going to try and do this by talking to some of the third year students and see how any of them are making their way into the industry and what their plans are for the future.
I am going to try to make as many contacts as possible over the next coming year so that it gives me the best start when I come to getting a job. I am in no rush though, I would rather find a job that I am going to enjoy not just take one for the sake of having a job when it’s not really something that you want to do.
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