Ralph Lauren

 Ralph Lauren has a classy elegance about their whole look, and even their stores. Visiting the Flagship store might have been one of my favorite classes so far! I had no idea that they made purses, and fine jewelry. Being in the retail business at Michael Kors I really took all of the customer service amazing and as great advice and tips to make the customer feel at home and appreciated, because loyal customers are the ones that keep these amazing stores and businesses running. The service in particular that I enjoyed was the car services, Stephanie said sometimes they will take clients to certain places or pick them up. There were also butler services, a full equip kitchen where they prepare food, and give clients water with lemon, or even sparkling water. With their extensive customer service it lures the customer into trusting their opinions and feeling comfortable enough to try whatever they suggest, which is a big step in retail. At Michael Kors, we mostly sell handbags, so I was all over the Ricky made-to-order handbag. As I mentioned before I had no idea that Ralph Lauren made handbags, they were so classy and I was loving the teal croc leather. 
     The interior of the store was amazing. It really felt like a home, even though most of us do not live in four story mansions! Every product was so preciously displayed. In the fine jewelry section which we learned is new to Ralph Lauren, the pieces were in their own glass box with black fabric behind it to make them pop. With the jewelry, being a horse owner and lover, I was amazed with the stirrup necklace! I learned that their watches range from $2300 to over $10000, and their median price for a watch was $25000!! I could not imagine selling that high price of an item!!
     The second floor we learned more about the apparel. It was comforting to know that their pieces are made in NYC. One dress in particular the beaded evening gown was so immaculate, the beading is all hand done with each bead and done in India. Each of the garments are hand cut and sewn, this really gives the uniqueness to each item. Usually most companies work with China and India because it is cheap and keep costs down, but at Ralph Lauren it was stressed that it is done there strictly because it is the best work and that the cost does not matter.  I admire that, because they want their customer and clientele to be in the most fabulous clothes that they deserve and to have unique one of a kind pieces! Another factor that I loved about their fabrics was that they work closely with PETA and all of their furs and leathers are from animals that are eaten. Working with leathers I find that admirable and really brings respect towards the company that they know where they get their leathers and furs from. 
     The architecture and the interior design in the store is so rich and looking out the balcony on the second floor, it almost felt like being in the streets of Paris! The store that we went to took 6 years to finally be done and is only about a year old. At first I thought to myself that's a long time to be working on this place, but it is filled with such detail and great thought that I definitely think that it was worth it, and that the sales of the store proves it!
     The fourth floor was also so amazing. The dark room that they change 2 times a year had such an amazing feel of elegance and old 20's glam. Interior design is so inspiring to me and it's amazing what people can do with it.
     I was very surprised and admired to hear that Ralph Lauren himself is involved in 100% of what you see in the store. Nowadays you hear of designers and that they have a lot of people that do a lot for them. Even though he has tons of help with his brand, it is nice to know he cares to see what is in the store and appreciates what his sales team does! This tour made me really appreciate being in retail and sales, and also that Ralph Lauren may be a brand that I would potentially work for at some point in my life!
     The whitney museum was one of the few museums that I have been in new york but I plan on going to more within the next few months left here! I loved my art history classes at Kent and it was really inspiring to see all American Art!

Fabric2Finish

  Although I did not get to take any pictures at Fabric to Finish I felt I was given so much helpful and useful information. Jaime is such an inspirational individual and it is really nice to hear that she still has such drive and passion about her job. I am in a product development class where we just had a test so this visit was perfect timing. She talked about licensing, royalties, and a lot of other terms that I could really relate to. It's so impressive what Jaime does, interning at Calvin Klein and having a product development team, It's crazy to me that she does the job that normally dozens of people do together. I also found it inspiring that Jaime started off at George Washington college and majored in Literature and had no fashion experience but has been with such prestigious companies as she had really proves that it's not just your education, most people might not care where you went to school, it's about your personality and how hard you work. If you put your mind to anything you can achieve whatever you want. She also made a very good point about standing out,  it made me think what does make me stand of from the next person that walks in the door. Its important to understand yourself and what your strengths are and to overcome your weaknesses. Working at Tommy Hilfiger seemed to be a very important connection that Jaime made with the company. I enjoyed that she became so close to her bosses and they ended up promoting her and giving her responsibilities she never thought she would obtain. I also think being fired from J-Crew or any job in general is helpful to learn how to deal with rejection because not everything is ever going to be a cake walk. The lack of internet and technology has never come across my mind but being so dependent on it I find it hard imagining how I would keep in contact with overseas offices, or even find jobs! Another story Jaime told was about the man she had her first interview with and saw in the elevator at Mood and how she had not seen him in 10 years and here she was as successful as she could ever be and had transformed into such a great successful businesswoman. I hope to have an experience like that, where I see the first person I interviewed with or interned with and see how successful I am at the point in my life, I hope to see Jaime again, she really had such useful advice and inspiring stories and life lessons that cannot be forgotten.

Stoll

I was unaware of Stoll as a company but by the end of the tour I was so interested in the company and what they stand for. I truly learned so much during the entire tour. For example I learned the difference between full fashion, and cut and sew. As a company that produces samples for designers they had some really exquisite techniques that add such quality to a garment. Some of the techniques that they used were the knit in pockets and knit in buttonholes which can be described as instead of cutting a garment to make a buttonhole or pocket, it is knitted into the shape of the hole or garment so there is no wasting of fabric or cutting of the garment. I found it especially interesting when the tour guide started explaining each garment that was on the mannequin and how long each took. In particular I enjoyed the fringe sweater that was near the front window. The techniques that were used seemed so intricate and made me want to try and make such a piece myself, or at least watch it be made. The fringe sweater took 138 minutes to produce, and the company itself charges their customers $125 an hour and $1 a minute. I am very interested in companies that make their clothing in the US and even though stoll could not produce at such a high capacity, I think it is something worth looking into. Garment's aren't made in the US because it is too expensive, but it could be done. Another technique that I enjoyed was the tube knit and wear, even though it is the most expensive it saves the most time and fabric which is huge in the fashion industry. The tour guide was so insightful and taught some really great concepts that as a Merchandiser I am unaware of. I am now so interested in knitting and weaving and creating my own fabrics, we have classes at kent and even have our own looms, I would love to utilize that and learn as much as I can. Toward the end of our tour, we were shown the Stoll Archives, the knits were so amazing and all of the prints were so inspiring. I know the design students got a lot of great inspiration for their projects from all the crazy knits. Especially the ones that she showed us that were versatile and could change into a bag, mens sweater and a women's sweater. It was frustrating to me that they are so talented and yet they don't launch their own line, I saw so many great pieces that I could see on the streets or runway and I hope that one day the fashion industry starts using techniques that may be more expensive but more resourceful, and maybe even designers having all of their product made in the US. I thoroughly enjoyed this tour, and hope to keep learning more and discovering more places like Stoll in NYC.

Ellery Homestyles

     Today I really enjoyed the tour that we were able to see at Ellery Homestyles. Last November I remember Molly coming to Kent and talking about her job. Then I wasn't really aware of the company or the Home Fashion career options. Being in Merchandising or Fashion in general people forget about the home decor and to be honest I thought that you could only be in those fields if you were in interior design, so I'm interested in that area of fashion now and could see myself at the company. The tour of the showroom was very informative. In particular I liked the Eclipse Collection that was sound proof and blocks out 99% of light. I thought that the kids line of curtains of glow in the dark was very innovative and I can see that being very popular for young kids. The Parasol collection I found great interest in, because they have to test the light against the fabric to see how much sun it can withstand before it fades. I believe Angela said that normally its about 40 hours of direct sunlight and the Parasol collection could withstand 1000 hours! The partner up with Arm & Hammer with the curtains I thought was a really smart business decision. The concept of curtains that smell fresh and can deodorize the smells of kitchens is something I had never heard of but makes complete sense.
        This is the first blog that I didn't have pictures for but I really got a lot of good information and learned a lot about a potential company I could work for. Molly and Angela really gave us some good tips on what to do for internships, interviews, resumes, and cover letters. I now think that I have added another direction of Fashion that I would love to work in.