First Day interning for MM.
despite waking up super early I was late getting out the door. One reason is b/c I am always late and the other reason is because my new duplicate key for my cousins apartment got stuck in the key hole (for like 10 minutes.. seriously). By the time I got to the subway (bout a 5min walk) I realized I forgot my 1month subway pass (which is like 81$) so I had to buy another one only i got a 2$ one way pass. By this time I'm sweaty and panicked that I'm going to make a really bad impression on my first day by being late. So I pull out the smallest bill I had, a 20 and it gets rejected b/c metro machines only give change up to 6$. So i try my credit card.. and thats a failure as well. So I go to the service counter and get change and finally get into the train station. I get to the front door of the studio at 9:45am, supposed to be there at 10am, I'm 15minutes early and gross. So i sit on this bench for 13minutes. When I try to open the door of the studio.. i find out its locked.. no one is inside.. and no one is answering the phone. I get super confused and slightly panicked.. "what if they forgot I was coming?" "what if they aren't working today?" "what if I remembered the wrong time/day?" "what if they're just messing with me?" "i should have called or emailed to confirm." Then 10minutes later an asian woman from malaysia shows up. I find out later she is one of MM's seamstresses (1 of 2 on the payroll), her name is alice. So Alice and I sit on the bench waiting for someone to come open the door. Finally MM's main assistant Keioko (this teeny tiny japanese woman - yes, she is shorter than me!) comes in at 10:45am to open the door. My first task? Sweep the floor. I was pretty discouraged at this point.. thinking I was going to be doing shit work for this internship. However, MM arrived around 11.. 11:30 ish after Keioko went to his apartment to wake him up b/c he wasn't asnwering his phone. MM arrives and puts me straight to work on this shrug made of 20 layers of chiffon between a layer of organza. It was so cool to touch and work with a piece i'd seen in his collection online.
From Mon - Wed I met someone new each day. I found out there were many more interns than just me. Like.. at least 10-15 more interns. Since he's a startup company.. he's getting all the free work he can get. Only like 3 people are actually on the payroll (the 2 seamstresses and his main assistant, the little japanese woman).
Anyways, I finished up the shrug on wednesday, i think, and since then I've been working on this vest piece with tons of boning inside.
All the pieces are for Daphne Guinness. I didn't know who that was at first.. just that Mario kept telling me we were making the stuff for Daphne. So after emailing one of my friends I found out it was Daphne Guinness and that she is a socialite, daughter of the Guinness brewery guy, haute couture collector, and a famous fashion icon. (I'm so glad I didn't ask him "so who's daphne??") So Daphne.. is supposed to be coming in sometime this week to check out the stuff. I've read a bunch of stuff about her and I'm getting mixed reviews.. so I guess i'll have to develop my own opinion about her when i actually get to meet her..!
Sorry this post is all over the place about my internship. I meant for it to be more organized but.. a lot has happened and I don't want to bore anyone with TOO MANY details...
So overall.. It's been a great experience so far. The studio is tiny (Mario says we're going to move to a bigger place soon..) so everyone gets one on one with mario and everyone is really friendly, nice, and has a sense of humor.
Today was a pretty great work day. 1. b/c i laughed so much and 2. b/c i got to see what its like to be on the other side when 2 people came in for an interview. I overheard Mario telling his interning assistant that he only wanted to see applicants from parsons and FIT or central st. martins. I feel super lucky to have taken that summer class at parsons 2 years ago.. b/c i really think its the only reason why i got the interview.. seriously.
I have so many more things to write about but.. its already entirely too long of a post for any one of you to actually read all the way through without skimming.. everything. So here's some PICTURES b/c words are so boring..
The shrug I duplicated. w/ added shoulder pads + lining
Daphne Guiness via google images
I feel special being able to read your blog =)
ReplyDeleteI love Daphne Guinness!! If you get to meet her, you have to take a picture with her and write about what she's like in real life!
That shrug looks really hard to make, I'm impressed! And you're just as good, if not better, as any of the other Parsons/FIT/Central St. Martins snobs =)