Feb 20 2016. INTERNING AT ELLE MAGAZINE
- Aaliyah Harris
- Feb 20, 2016
- 4 min read
Elle magazine has served me well over the years and my aspirations to improve my journalistic skills within Fashion industry have only grown stronger. Through its glossy layouts, creative writing style and fused content of celeb culture and the ‘everyday’ individual; I feel that ELLE promotes the style and image I am drawn to.
‘Christian Louboutin heels were my main heartbreak.’
Whilst interning for ELLE, I worked in the ‘Fashion Cupboard’ for a week with Editors, beauty and fashion directors, photographers, stylists, fashion assistants, other interns and so many other great professionals working at the Hearst company. For the majority of my week I carried out one of the most tedious tasks within the world of fashion… RETURNS. Although returns were one of the less luxurious tasks, I can say it taught me how to describe clothing so precisely that I must now know over fifty new materials and iconic arrangement looks. I learnt a range of different PR companies’ certain brands belong to and my understanding for how the clothes in the magazines are organised was improved from nothing to a whole lot more. The job involved sending back items of clothing, accessories, garments, shoes and other props ELLE called in for the production of the spreads and for those featured within them.
One of the main aspects I saw within ELLE was how hard everybody works and how much effort and passion each person has for the magazine. I learnt to value air conditioning and space because in the cupboard there is little among the masses of beautiful clothing and beauty products. It was like walking into a terrifyingly addictive shop full of fashion brands you would only dream of seeing, let alone holding and the tight space was overwhelming at times, but worth it. Returns involves working quickly, filling out docket forms, packaging locally and internationally, locating and grouping brands and really just knowing the products you are returning. Post room collections and deliveries are linked too and learning how to correctly send the items played a part.
The most saddening part of returns was when the designer products everyone finds breath taking merge into the ‘everyday brand’ category and you forget the real value. I got so used to being around expensive brands and now I remember they are no where near my price range in reach. It really is sad. Christian Louboutin heels were my main heartbreak.
‘Made me heat up just a little...’
‘What ELLE wears’ is a weekly blogpost on ELLE online. It showcases the staff’s fashion that they wear to work. I was asked to be shot for this and I must admit I felt quite proud, considering I wasn’t dressed amazingly on that day. Lesson learned, to always dress up to scratch! The shots taken are below, with credit to‘Silvia Olsen’. This experience was different to any other modelling type setting I’ve been in. Shooting in the middle of a road in London, stopping traffic and bikes gave a whole new pressure, even if the shoot was short… walking whist photos were being taken made me heat up just a little. When I talked to the photographer and heard a little about what she specialises in was interesting and gave me motivation to follow all my passions.
ELLE STYLE AWARDS’
Looking back at the thrills of delivering, preparing gift boxes for the upcoming event, the ELLE STYLE AWARDS gave me the chance to talk to someone involved with the event side of Hearst magazines. VIP guests that attend this type of event are celebrates such as Taylor Swift, so making sure everything was as extravagant and well planned out was important. During fashion week (next week) ELLE work round the clock to make sure those invited are treated with deluxe accommodation and I can tell you now by what was in the gift bags you can tell they go all out on making sure it’s a memorable experience. Within the mad rush to make sure every aspect of the event was perfected I was asked to deliver and retrieve items from the other Hearst studio’s, through this I got a chance to locate areas in London and learn a little more about the size of the Hearst business.
‘But who wouldn’t love being surrounded by brand new clothes’
To finish my journey with ELLE, being surprised with an invitation to join one of the Editors and other interns in a styling and fitting consultation was by far the most exciting part of my week. I traveled to the All Saints band styling and fitting, where a variety of clothing selections for different moods and themes had to be arranged and laid out for the four. Each look was tailored and suited to each of their individual preferences. The room we were in turned into a mini runway of different brightly coloured designer shoes, clothes and jewelry. It looked stunning and if I was the model being styled I would have loved the pampering treatment. But who wouldn’t love being surrounded by brand new clothes that would allow you to have a different outfit for the entire year? It was amazing. I got to experience how the Editor communicates and caters to each client’s needs. The other assistant there showed me how to take notes and helped with teaching me how to set out the products correctly. And Never Ever Have I Ever had so much fun style shopping for other people!
I’m gratified I have had the chance to experience working in Fashion and I would like to intern there again. From my experience I now know that I enjoy the industry even more and through hard work and
a desire to achieve the best, I will only be progressing further in this industry.
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