Summer Intern Interviews
It’s no secret that the Apparel Merchandising and Design Association has incredible members, but it also has amazing internship opportunities where members can prove their talents! All students in Auburn’s Apparel Merchandising Design and Production Program are required to complete an internship before graduation, and each semester our students get to show off their knowledge and skills in a professional setting. This summer, there were so many interns in SO many different places in both design and merchandising, and I got the privilege of asking a few of them some questions about their experiences!
First up is Aubrey Hinely! Aubrey interned at LoveShackFancy in New York City this past summer, and received this internship by simply emailing her resume and portfolio to all the assistant and head designers at the company until she heard back! This alone is proof that you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. I loved getting to hear about Aubrey’s experience at a company like LoveShack that is well-established, but also gaining even more visibility in recent years! She was assigned the task of tracking incoming and outgoing packages for the design department, checking the samples and prototypes that were sent in the previous days, and sending emails to everyone in the department regarding their status. After completing these logistics, she was able to tap into her creative side in Photoshop, by working on the sketch updates for the current season’s design packets. Over the course of the summer she worked on three seasons! Each day included mini tasks for her supervisors, as well as recaps at the end of each day. Aubrey stated that her favorite task she was dealt was using CAD software to update the sketches to be included in the upcoming seasons, and she can’t wait to see them in stores next spring. One of her favorite moments in her internship was setting up, hosting, and attending a baby shower for a senior designer there. This goes to show that there are so many fun opportunities to get to know your coworkers outside of the office! In asking Aubrey what a challenge was that she had never encountered before, she said her main one was “adjusting to a new city and learning how they do things”. She said “it was an inevitable challenge, but I overcame it by being patient, kind, and respectful to everyone around me, even if they weren’t directly in my department.” Luckily, Aubrey had friends living in New York City this summer as well that she got to meet up with, and also established great relationships with her coworkers. Meeting and visiting amazing people was “easily my favorite part of the city,” Aubrey says, and the hardest part of the summer was the tiny apartments in NYC! A piece of advice that Aubrey wanted to offer up to someone entering a similar internship as hers is to “go in with an open mind.” She reassures that not every experience is going to be outstanding, but to stay confident and remain true to yourself.
Next I got to hear from the talented Tatum Snelling! She interned virtually at Victoria’s Secret Lingerie (now VS & Co.) as a Merchandising Intern on the Panty Team, specifically Raw-Cut. The day applications opened, Tatum applied and was reached out to immediately by HR. This was followed by an initial introduction call with HR, 5 interviews with VSL merchants, then she finally received her offer! Tatum said that a typical day in her internship included “a LOT of Excel, analyzing financials of the assortment, using Merchant Assistant Tool, scanning the competitive landscape, doing individual project work, and collaborating with cross-functional teams.” Her favorite task was a bundling project that entailed scanning the market for bundling opportunities and creating hypothetical bundles within VSL’s current assortment. She also loved attending the bigger, strategic meetings that revealed concept, design, or buy reviews to the leadership for upcoming seasons. “Any class that had to do with Excel and retail math was helpful,” Tatum said about what classes prepared her for her experience. In asking her what challenges she faced and how she overcame them, she stated that “the hardest challenge was balancing the workload, which forced me to prioritize certain tasks in order to meet deadlines and be extremely detail-oriented.” Given these challenges, utilizing cross-functional partners allowed Tatum to get the answers she needed, while also building strong relationships with her coworkers. Her piece of advice is to “be prepared to work and work hard. Merchandising and retail in general is extremely fast-paced and requires you to be really on your toes.” Tatum’s experience at Victoria’s Secret is an incredible source of inspiration and insight into the industry and what life could look like as a merchant in the lingerie business!
I got to catch up with Campbell Morgan, who served as a Social Media and PR Intern at Alabama’s Special Camp for Children and Adults (Camp ASCCA) in Jackson’s Gap, AL. Each morning of her internship she would be assigned to different programs where she videographed and photographed campers to capture all the sweet moments. She then would write a blog post, edit footage, watermark and upload photos. There were so many activities that she got to capture moments for campers to see! Her favorite task was helping manage the social media accounts, which wasn’t something interns were allowed to do in years past! She got the chance to collaborate with the Social Media Specialist and the Director of Marketing Communications, and helped their social media platforms gain over 400 followers just this summer! Campbell said that she “did not realize how much of the design major included public relations skills until this summer,” and that “being able to appeal to other aesthetics is extremely important in this industry.” Even though Campbell’s internship wasn’t directly in the apparel industry, she says it “made me realize that ultimately I want to create a ready-to-wear line geared toward those with physical and intellectual disabilities.” Moreover, Campbell says her internship strengthened her ability to adapt to a particular crowd in order to appeal to that brand, but also stand out in an innovative form to generate new ideas and draw interest from a larger audience. She offers up the advice to “live in the moment, that you will be surprised with what you can do, and that you’ll grow in ways you couldn’t imagine.”
Another one of our merchandising members who interned this summer was Wynne Watts! She secured her internship with Fab’rik in Homewood after running their social media during the pandemic when she fell in love with the company and her experience, and then reached out about internship opportunities! Her normal days included assisting on the sales floor, arranging table displays, changing mannequins, processing new arrivals, and helping customers. She got the opportunity to learn how to place merchandise orders, contact vendors, manage bank deposits of cash flows, and control inventory. Visual merchandising projects were her favorite tasks during the summer, especially being able to re-merchandise the store to ensure maximum efficiency with customer foot traffic and product visibility. Her collaboration and communication skills were strengthened when she was assigned tasks that she wasn’t sure how to do. Being able to work alongside a great team and having a manager to look up to and ask questions to was extremely beneficial and definitely helped in her interpersonal development. I could tell that Wynne was so thankful for her internship as she raved about how great of an experience it was and how many new things she got to learn. She said, “the best feeling is when a customer leaves the store happy and excited about their purchase. I want to pursue a career in styling, so this experience was so helpful.” Her advice for soon-to-be interns is to “go in confidently and don’t be afraid to ask questions, to seek out opportunities to help in any way you can, and to be invested in the company and the people around you to really reap the benefits.”
Sweet Emily Plodzeen was also an intern in New York City this summer, working for Allison Webb, the bridal designer. She discovered Allison Webb and her classic-style wedding dresses while interning at a bridal salon the summer after her freshman year of high school. In the Spring of 2021 during her hunt for her college internship, Emily directly messaged Allison Webb on Instagram apologizing for the unprofessionalism, told her a little about herself, and explained how she wanted to work with Allison and JLM Couture. Luckily, Emily received a response and got an interview the next day! The entire summer, she worked on helping design the Spring 2022 bridal line. She worked on embroidery layout and pattern tracing to be able to send pieces out for embroidery, which was the only aspect of the design and production process that was outsourced. Her summer project included creating an online database for the design team to use when designing new lines, and she was able to directly see the increased efficiency of designing the Spring 2022 collection. It is an incredible experience to feel you have a voice in your internship, which is what Emily got to experience in working with the head pattern maker doing draping layouts. She says, “Allison would come and collaborate with us and ask for my design suggestions or opinions,” which is an astronomical blessing. In asking Emily what her favorite part of the summer was, she assured me that it was the entire experience of living in New York City. She loved the 24/7 energy and grind of people there, and could see this as the beginning point of how far she could really go in the world. Living in Hell’s Kitchen, near Times Square, was a huge challenge for her, but every time something didn’t work out, she pivoted and kept moving forward. “This internship,” Emily said, “helped develop my couture construction skills. I want to work in developing apparel technology and working with sustainable fabrics and leathers grown from fungi and bacteria. I want to contribute to the greater world around me. I hope to see the fashion world break from ‘fast-fashion’ trends and work to develop new technologies to implement into apparel.” It is evident that Emily had an incredible experience in her internship and is ready to propel into her future career!
Last, but certainly not least, is Olivia Seals. She has recently been selected as a SWATCH Ambassador for the fall 2021 semester, and she had the opportunity to intern with The Smith Agency in Atlanta this summer! Working at AmericasMart, her days included training and directing new hires, organizing showrooms, selling merchandise to customers, conducting visual merchandising displays, running errands, and modeling clothing. One of her favorite tasks she was assigned with was representing Sheila Fahjil where she got to meet Sheila herself as well as her son and the CEO, Gabriel. She had chances outside of work as well to socialize with other interns and build relationships with those similar to her! The Aesthetics of Fashion class best prepared Olivia for her work in selling at market, and feels as if Auburn does a great job of teaching students how to be young professionals. She is confident that her experience gave her a lot of insight into the fashion industry, especially in wholesaling, merchandising, and forecasting, and that she has narrowed down what she wants to do in her career. “Confidence is key,” she reassures members who have solidified their internships. “If you got the internship then they clearly see potential in you, so go in with confidence.”
Getting to meet with my peers and hear their testimonies about their internship experiences was so rewarding. I feel so proud to be part of a program that prepares and supports merchandising and design students as they embark on concrete steps towards their career paths. Each experience in the apparel industry is entirely unique from one another, and these stories are so evident of that truth. These six interns, as well as all other AMDA members, are going to achieve such great accomplishments in their upcoming years, and will surely be an inspiration to those around them.
