PR development

This week it started a new employee at Bruuns Bazaar. He is hired for developing the social media at the company, and I thought that he would take over that part so I would´t have anything to do with it anymore - but I was wrong. Instead we do it together, the brainstorming as well as the final newsletters and similar. It is really great! And I am so happy that I got to learn Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator at The Swedish School of Textiles because It is almost only me who know how to work with them... It is also interesting when someone new comes into the company with new ideas of how to develop the social media.

This is my last blog post, and even though I have been at my internship for 2 months now and I have learned so much, I am happy that I have another 3 months here because there is still so much to learn.

Finishing our internship at IKEA

The internship is now over and we have both enjoyed our two month here at IKEA of Sweden. Our work seemed to be appreciated and we have gained a lot of work experience within communication. Its amazing how fast these weeks went by and how much we have experienced.

We created a summary for IKEA additional to our reports to present what we have worked with durring this period.  It reviews the activities such as how we collected information within the company, observed meetings and conferences, edited content, attended media training sessions and the two biggest tasks: mapping of external partners and the involvement in the democratic design events.

We both want to thank Johanna our supervisor and all the IKEA co-workers for a memorable internship!

Thank you all!

Code of Conduct

As a part of my internship, I am drafting a Code of Conduct for the company. A Code of Conduct is a document that sets the standards for a company's subcontractors and business partners on how to act and how to treat their employees. It is often included in contracts, and a breach of the code means an immediate stop in production and the business relationship. Drafting a code has been challenging work, but I have learned a lot about different CSR values and how important it is to clearly state what you as a company accepts and not in relation to your subcontractors especially if you work on a global level.

MAD Fashion Research

Researching about Spanish luxury fashion, the best place to do so is the apparel museum, “Museo del Traje” in Madrid - airport code MAD ;-) . I have found very interesting books and articles at the Museum’s library; as well as a very nice place to write in.

The museum was created in 2004, but the collection has a longer history as an anthropologic collection of apparel. The building was originally inaugurated in 1975 as the Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art and the architects, Jaime López de Asiaín and Angel Díaz Domínguez, followed the specifications of the 1968 Congress of Museum Architecture in its design. The project was awarded the National Prize for Architecture in 1969 (Museo del Traje, n.d.).

The museum conserves items from the 16th to the 21st Century, including pieces by Spanish couturiers who contributed to fashion history such as Mariano Fortuny or Cristóbal Balenciaga. In fact, one of the temporary exhibitions is a talk between Balenciaga and a contemporary designer, Assaad Awad. I consider the objectives of this exhibition are very similar to my own research. The purposes of these talks are: “firstly, from the revitalization of heritage linked to fashion, in the belief that a major creative industry must be based on knowledge of tradition, at least in the Spanish case; and secondly, bringing into play the creativity of designers to interpret that tradition and demonstrate the inventiveness of the new generation of fashion designers” (Museo del Traje, n.d.).

https://vimeo.com/assaadawad/balenciaga
 

Assaad Awad’s pieces are characterized by craftsmanship and cutting edge, in addition to the use of many types of materials and luxury goods, leather accessories and jewelry that respect the quality and workmanship of each piece. I am pretty sure you have seen the work of Assaad Awad in celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Madonna (look at Madonna's accessories at the Superbowl 2012). It is very interesting to see the contrast between the timeless designs of Balenciaga and these modern pieces.

So…stop reading and plan a visit to Madrid and its “Museo del Traje”!

Creating a catalog!

Aspira is a new and small company, which still doesn’t have a strong marketing strategy. As, we are targeting for Europe and USA market, first we have decided to attract the attention of tourists in Kyrgyzstan. I have offered to create a catalog, brochure and a flyer for the company, which will be available in public places as a cafeteria, restaurants, tourist offices, where usually the tourists pass by. The flyer and the brochure have information about company and their contacts. The catalog has more detailed information about the company, designers, and the range of products.  We believe that, through the catalog, brochure and flyer people can find out the existence of Aspira company, then visit the website to find out even more.

Therefore, in a couple of weeks, I have been creating catalog, flyers and brochures for the Aspira company.  It was fun, because I have never done such kind of thing, so I looked different catalog to get some inspiration and read different magazines to understand how a catalog should look like.

I think, this experience was very useful, because I have learnt some new computer programs to create them and get new knowledge in this graphical area.

Production department

Hi there,

A regular day for me at HOPE varies from day to day. As I am involved in the different stages of each collection, this enables me to get an overview of the whole process from design sketching to ready product, which is very interesting. I also get the chance to interact and discuss the ideas and thoughts behind each garment/outfit with the designers, which is great fun!

Latest weeks has mainly contained of different meetings regarding the different stages of each collection, quality testing of received production samples and a four-day sample sale at the head office.

As a part of the production department I also got the opportunity to attend a training day focusing on chemicals used within the textile industry and recyclable textile materials. This training day aimed to inform and educate on the chemical impact within the textile industry, and how to recycle textile materials without causing more environmental impacts. A very interesting day so to say!

Best Regards,

Åsa 

Trims Department

All collection's starts with inspiration's meetings between the head designer, creative director and head manager of trims and fabrics department (my boss-boss). After every meeting, we get a recap and then I do my research. I start by looking at our archive to see if we have something in house that we can present to the next meeting with the head designer. When that's done, I move on to the internet and try to find pictures that can translate what the designers wants, and sending them to our suppliers asking if they have something similar. And then I wait for all the samples be shipped to Stockholm. And this is how it looks like for a couple of weeks, until they have decided what theme and trims they want to have. But everything can change, and be cancelled. And they can change theme from one day to another. 

I can give an example, but I can't say what they actually are going to use or used so I will use terms like A and B and so on to explain different kinds of themes and "creative ideas". 

We are in the middle of the work of Womens Wear Main SS16 right now, and when this started, around 4 weeks ago, the designers had an idea of using A-theme. So I got tons of trims and components of A and they worked on it until last weeks meeting with the creative director, who cancelled it all. So, instead of being in the middle of the process of Main SS16, where we should place all the trims orders for  samples, we started from the beginning again. So, the end of last week and today I have been researching, running around the city and buying components for theme B. And, hopefully, this theme will be in to the end of this collection, but probably not.

What we also do is developing trims for designers, or mostly all the trims we are using are developed for the company, with logos on or specific sizes and so on. Last season Womens Wear Main AW15 we developed a specific puller for all the knitwear and some jackets. That process took around 8 weeks to finish. Here's a picture of the puller for the zipper. 

Acne Studios Ready-To-Wear Main AW15

That's all for me for now.

Ciao

Summary of my internship period at KappAhl

Hi everyone!

Time flies when you're having fun... 

Now I'm at the end of my internship period at KappAhl. Following two weeks I have some few meetings to sum up the big project I have been working with, but otherwise I had my last day this Friday. I'm so thankful and happy about my time at KappAhl, and I would never have guessed that this internship period would give me so much new knowledge as it has done. Honestly I think I have learned something new every single day, and I will definitely bring my new knowledge with me and probably be able to use it in both my last year in school and in my future work. Besides all the new knowledge I have got I have also got valuable contacts that I hopefully can benefit from in the future. As I have mentioned before I have been working at the quality department together with three other textile engineers, and from meetings and conversations with them as well as from my project I have got a lot of useful information and ideas to use in my final report that I'm currently writing, which is about quality and quality manegement within the fast fashion industry. 

Have a great week!

/Malin Fredrikson

Flatpacks, Fashion and infinite Novelty.

Hej everyone!

A short video about a day as an intern. Find out what brings media from all over the world to a small town in Älmhult. Get ready for high fashion, bringing runway to homes and street art from streets to households. Enjoy!

My first weeks at Björn Borg

My first weeks at Björn Borg

Hello everyone!

My name is Stefani Petkovic and I am doing my internship at Björn Borg. They are a globally known Swedish brand that owns and develops its own brand. The Swedish headquarter of Björn Borg is placed in Stockholm, where the brand manages operations that involve brand development, services for the network of licenses and distributors, and product development that focus on underwear which is the organisations core business. Björn Borg group also offers sportswear, fragrances and footwear in certain markets as well as footwear, bags & luggage and eyewear through licensees.

I work with the marketing department that involve the Marketing director, Global PR, Art directors, Project Managers and Visual Merchandizer etc. but my main direction of internship is Global Advertisement, I primarily assist and follow the tasks of Björn Borgs Global Advertising Manager. It is an amazing internship, I am really learning a lot, as well as I am growing a lot as an individual and a professional. I am happy for being involved in such an amazing brand culture, it is a company that really “lives the brand”. The brand is evolving all the time, therefore I will keep you updated.

Thank you for now,

Best wishes!

Meeting Media from All Over the World

Media from all over the world gather at Älmhult, the birthplace of IKEA, for Democratic Design Days. This small town is bustling with journalists, TV crew, bloggers, designers, product developers, creative leaders and visitors all from over the world. Media include Forbes, Business Times, ELLE ... and hundreds more. Our role is to schedule all the global media visits and to ensure that all the media's requests are being met. It may seem straightforward but in reality, we have to keep up with round the clock changes, demands and requests from over hundreds of media companies all at the same time.

The goal of Democratic Design is to showcase the philosophy of good design through the right combination of form, function, quality and sustainability at an affordable price.  This includes home fashion, textiles, street art, soft toys, plants, furniture, home furnishing and so much more. Narrowing down to fashion, for the very first time, IKEA collaborates with fashion designers such as Katie Eary from UK, Walter Van Beirendonck from Belgium and Martin Bergström from Sweden, adding excitement and surprises in the upcoming collections. Apart from scheduling the interviews, the exciting bit is we get to talk to and hang out with the media, designers, creative leaders and management. Long and busy days ahead but also very enjoyable and fun. 

A normal day for me at Lindex

Hi,

So I said I would write about how a normal day looks like for me at Lindex. First I start off with a big cup of coffee while the computer is starting up all the programs. I usually begin with going through my mail inbox to see if there are any problems or questions at the production offices. I work with offices in Bangladesh, China and Pakistan mostly. It is interesting to communicate with people around the world, and I have learned that it's important to be very clear and simple in my writing to reduce misunderstandings between each other.

I normally lay orders in the systems based on the purchasers instructions, and there is a bit of adminitrative work and filing orders into the right cover etc.

Around 11 a lot of samples arrives with the post service.  There are different types of samples sent to us in different stages of the production process. First they send an offer or development sample for us to look at and accept or dismiss. Then a first sample is sent, and then it is normally the measurements that are being tested and mostly the fabric and trims are just available, not actual.
Then there is a counter sample, when the garment is pretty much finished and has the right fabric timmings and color etc. Lastly a production sample is sent and that is how it will look in the stores - the finished product.

So I comment out on these samples and make sure the production offices get the information they need in order to improve the garment if necessary, so they can continue in their process of finishing the products.

These are my everyday duties, although there are a lot of meetings and other little extra tasks for me to do as well.

Br,
Daniella

Jute textiles

I am researching jute textiles and I am learning a lot about different natural fibers. Jute has historically been one of the most important sources of income for Bangladesh, mostly for industrial purposes. But now the business of jute fabrics produced for diversified products is growing immensely in  Bangladesh and more and more manufacturers are experimenting with different processes and how to make the jute fiber as soft as possible. It is surprising to see how good quality you can get using a very simple manufacturing process and without the need for that much chemical treatment.

Internship at Acne Studios

Hi all

I'm Myle and I'm doing my internship at Acne Studios. I am at Fabrics, Trims and Prints department and working as an assistant to the trims developer. For you who doesn't know what trims are, it's all the details in a garment like buttons and zippers.

What I do most days is sourcing for trims accordingly to the designers request, it can be all from finding the right shape of a horn button or right finish of a zipper to a jacket. The trim developer (my boss) also develops special trims according to the designers request, so they are special made only for Acne Studios. It may seem easy sourcing for trims like buttons and zippers, but it is the same for sourcing for fabric and finding the right fabric for the designers. We work towards men's wear and women's wear so we always working with at least two collections at the same time.

We are finishing up Men's wear SS16 Wardrobe collection, and starting with launching the trims for Men's wear SS15 Looks Collection. That means that we send our request and orders to the suppliers that we are working with so they can produce trims for sample's to be made. This always includes the product developer and the production since they are the one's that's going to place the final orders of everything to be produced. After the sample's being made and are in house, that's when the designers chose wether they want to proceed with the specifik black horn button or if they want to change into a brown horn button. We are alos finishing the Women's wear Pre SS16 collection, with the same process.

So, briefly, this is what I do during my days from 9 am to 8 pm at Acne Studios.

Cheers,
Myle

Clearance Sale

Hej,

This week was really intense. The company suddenly decided to have a clearance sale next week! Therefore, I was working with planning the clearance during whole week. I was actually given the full responsibility for choosing women’s wear products that are going to be sold at the clearance. Since I took the responsibility for the women’s wear collection, I also went to the warehouse several times during the week for packing the products. I learnt the process of planning a last minute clearance through this. It is fun and exciting to take the responsibility where the outcome to a large extent depends on me! I really hope my selection will lead to good sales! J

Internship at HOPE!

Hello, my name is Åsa Hjelte and I am doing my internship at the Swedish designer brand HOPE, situated in Stockholm. I am based at the production and purchasing department at the head office in Stockholm, aiming to gain an insight in the buying and production process of a middle-sized fashion company.

My first weeks at HOPE have rather been busy from day one (but also instructively of course) with lot of new information and impressions to manage. I have been involved in different tasks that belong to the daily work duties of the buyers such as quality testing of received prototypes, pre production samples and sales samples. I have already learned so much about different materials, much more than I thought I actually would. I have also had the opportunity to attend several design meetings, since the production and design department work very closely and are therefore dependent on each other. I have also attended some meetings with suppliers and agencies coming from different countries to discuss upcoming collections and the choice of garment, patterns etc. All meetings have been very interesting since it gives me the opportunity to analyze the interactions between the different participants, as well as it contributes with lot of new knowledge.

Fashion shows

Hello, 

The past few weeks have been full of planning and coordinating for a fashion show at Frölunda Torg and one at Fitnessgalan in Stockholm. My job has basically been to assist the head managers for these events and help them with various tasks.  For the event at Frölunda Torg I helped organized a schedule for the runway-walk, so that the models easily could see what they are supposed to wear and which order they should walk in.  It was very giving to make this schedule and to get the opportunity to be a part of something that is so important for the company’s image. The event turned out very successfully and the company was overall very pleased with the outcomes. After the event there were still lots of things to do. For instance all the photos from the fashion show have to be published and also fan-photos that the audiences have taken with the models. These photos published in both Instagram and Facebook. Another important thing to do after this kind of event is to follow up with photos from bloggers, Instagram account etc., which was my task.    

For the event at Fitnessgalan in Stockholm I selected the product samples in different sizes. The aim was to select sporty, colorful yet sexy clothes that would go hand in hand with the fitness lifestyle. This was a really fun experience to help coordinate this big event and I learned a lot from it. From these two event I take with me the importance of planning and structuring and time management.  

Have a nice weekend!

/ Linnéa 

Crafting a brand story

As I said before, I am responsible for Aspira promotion. My first assignment was to write the compelling story for the brand, which will attract the target audience and  service as an emotional bridge between the company and its customers.

First step, to craft a good story for Aspira was understanding how it looks a charming story and what it has. So I have read some articles and books, which describe how to craft a good brand story, what kind of elements make an interesting story.

The second step was research of Aspira competitors, to understand what story they use, what is a foundation of their story and how they promote it to get audience attention. It also helped me to determine disadvantages of their story

In the next, I have emphasized the features of Aspira business to use them in crafting a brand story.  For example: one of the features of the company is handmade products, which are made from 100% natural materials as felt and sustainable leather. The technique of production and pattern of the products is the cultural heritage of Kyrgyz people-nomadic people, who have been living in Central Asia. Another feature is a social business.

Therefore, I have used the company’s features, disadvantages in the competitors stories and tips from articles to crafts a good story for Aspira. The cultural heritage serviced as a fundament for creating charming brand story, which will help the company to distinguish itself from others and touch the hearts of the target audience.

Giuli’s Pajamas

My first months at the company are over and time went by so fast. A few weeks ago I proposed my idea to design pajamas and add it to the company’s product portfolio. I was very lucky that everybody loved the idea and that they actually agreed on letting me do it. This is probably one advantage when working at a small company, decisions are made quicker.  This way I can work on a real project which will help me to understand all the various steps that are needed to develop a new product.

So currently I am working on the spec sheet which is a lot more time consuming and difficult than I thought. The most difficult thing right now is to get the sizing right because I don’t have the knowledge and since the company usually manufactures home textile it is a challenge for them as well. But I am in contact with the factory in China which will manufacture the pajamas and we are working together to design a spec sheet. So they will do some samples, send it here and we adjust and look at the specs. The next step after we got the sizing right is to decide on trims and accessories.

So I’m quite busy but it is all very interesting and I am excited for the next weeks.