Research Project - 2

Hello again,

Since my last post I have been continuing to progress on building connections between research and practice. I have reached out to many companies that are producing locally both suppliers and fashion brands but am still waiting to hear back from many of them. I did have the opportunity to meet with a local producer and had a very interesting discussion on the current state of apparel manufacturing in Borås.

I have a meeting scheduled with a small company that produces jeans locally in Malmö and I am really excited to hear their perspectives on the topic.

Excited for the next steps of putting all the pieces together.

Half way through my Internship

Hello from España,  time seems to be flying by here and I have already been with the company for almost a month now. Since the last post my tasks have changed (or developed) a little after the boss noticed my passion for communication and creativity. The past weeks I have been working with content for social media by taking photos, editing and creating 'outfit posts' using the Adobe programs. These tasks have taught me a lot, mostly about the cultural differences when it comes to style and fashion, and how to figure out a way to create content that meets their expectations!

During the past days I have also been introduced to a new project involving lifestyle brands for men, which is a whole new area for me. My main task is to create brand presentations that will be shown to future investors and manufacturers, so it is all about story telling and creativity (yeey!). I have also had the chance to work with developing a logotype for one of the brands, it does not mean that they will choose to take it forward but it feels great just to be able to experience the process. What I like most about this  Internship is that they give me the opportunity to come up with ideas while they give me great feedback and advices. I know this is something that will be useful when it is time to start working for real. 

It is so nice to read about what everyone is doing, it seems like we all are learning a lot. 
Keep up the good work! 

Nina

Internship at North Bend

These weeks have been filled with new assignments and tasks, everyday is different at the office and I have learned so much and had so much fun doing so. 

I am doing my internship at North Bend, a sport brand based in Borås. I have full responsibility for their webpage and social media, I am as well assisting the designers and doing a little bit of everything, but that is the way I like it, and how I will learn the most. 

This week I have been a part of two photoshoots. Together with one of the designers have I planned the shootings in term of location, outfits and hair and makeup. One shooting took place in Borås where we shoot pictures for Autumn/Winter 2016’s running. And yesterday we were in Helsingborg. We drove down on Wednesday evening and whole Thursday we drove around to different locations, shooting 14 outfits. The day was long but so much fun as well. Now afterwards I am going to be the one working with these photos, making so called “stories” on the webpage together with image material and text. 

I’m looking forward to the up coming weeks.

HEJ EVERYONE!

So much fun reading about your internships and what you’re all doing. I more and more realize that there is a huge industry for us out there to discover, how amazing! J

How time flies when you’re having fun! Yes, I guess we all feel quite the same about that… I can’t believe that it has already been over four weeks since my internship started. I’m doing my internship at the quality assurance department at Consortio Fashion Group in Borås. Consortio Fashion Group owns several online and post order companies and at the quality department we deal with the own production products to perform tests and make sure that the quality is as good as possible! Working at a quality department has been a dream of mine since the first year of my bachelor in Textile Engineering. You might understand that I was happy to get this internship!

So is working with quality questions what I expected it to be? Both yes and no. It has been a lot of work and I have learned so much during these weeks, but I still feel like there is a lot more to learn. Somehow I figure that the more you learn about something, the more you realize that there is to learn! My work day begins right before 8, I catch up with my colleagues and we discuss the situation and what to do during the day. Then we start with the quality testing of samples that has been sent to us from our suppliers. The quality department work closely with the buying department and we carry out tests on pre-production samples and on the shipping samples before these can be approved for further production. If we test pre-production samples here in our ‘lab’, we do a whole ‘in-house test’ to see whether the clothes may shrink during washing, how the color fastness is before and after wash and the overall appearance of the samples. We measure and control the clothes and compare them to previous measure lists and previous samples, we discuss and solve problems with the buying department and the garment technicians. If everything runs smoothly we give clearance to the buyers and the suppliers so the production can start. I now understand why production takes such long time and why the collection are being created years before they reach the customers. A lot of things may have to be changed during the time and all changes need to be tested and approved.

Until next time folks!

Take care and keep writing interesting blog post! J

All best,

Clara

Internship @velour_by_nostalgi

- Presskits going out to bloggers and influencers 

Hey Folks!

I’m doing my internship at a Gothenburg based men’s wear brand called Velour by Nostalgi. It’s the same company as Ann, so as she mentioned earlier in the blog the company is small but with a large international coverage.

My responsibilities are basically to assist with anything regarding Velours PR (public relations) and marketing strategies. Because I’ve been here since the middle of March, I’m already busy with several events and own projects. I have full responsibility for the “press” email account, finding and reaching out to bloggers/influencers as well as planning, arranging and maintaining events.

Since the start I have also worked with a questionnaire to understand the target group of the company – which will provide answers that will be the base for a upcoming collection. The purpose is to be more specific in the design process so that we can produce products that the end consumer actually wears.

So, until now everything’s good, and I’m enjoying my time!

Visit our homepage here or follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see what going on.

Stay tuned! 

/Denise

Hey from Stayhard´s office!

We are doing a different type of field study than the ordinary internship. Actually, we are doing a research project were we collaborate with The Swedish School of Textiles, SIIR (Swedish Institute for Innovative Retail) and Stayhard, who are an online retail company offering men’s clothing.

We have been working on this project for one month now and it gets more and more interesting. We are able to work on Stayhards inpiring office where we have a great enviroment and good collegues! So far we have been working on the basics of the project and figured out how to get the best results. Beside that, we are planning to do a very interesting experiment were we are going to investigate consumers online navigational behavior.

Stay with us, because on our next post we are going to expose what we are actually doing for them!

Hope you all are having a great experience,

Nelli & Niina

DAY 1

At my Home University, hand drawing is given more advantage then computer drawing. As a Costume design student, style of drawing is not only considered to be one's personal signature, but it also gives the opportunity to „feel“ the characters. On contrast to Fashion design, Costume design means designing for a particular character and face. It is also extremely important to be aware of different body shapes – unlike fashion sketches which are more impersonal, with the tendency to fit the mass. Therefore, my Home University does not insist on Costume design students practising computer drawing. I always wanted to learn it, for not only it gives you more opportuinties while applying for a job, but also because it is crucial in order to understand how the garments can actually be made (trough technical sketching).

The first day at my Company, I faced the fact that all the design interns are helping with technical sketching of the clothes – while using Illustrator! It is like I got hit where I was the weakest. I was really afraid that my Company will be forced to let me go, which is also reasonable, since I could not offer them what they need. But the second day, I learned how patient my internship mentors are. The day started with giving out new tasks for interns, and then they turned to me, asking if I would like to learn to use Illustrator. Ofcourse I wanted to! So they let me practise the whole day. I started from watching Adobe Illustrator tutorials, then I tried drawing some very basic geometrical shapes. They gave me a very simple sweater to draw a sketch on it – but it took me almost two days to draw it. Now I really laugh about it, when it comes to my mind.

            After five working days since I was able to do same tasks as everyone else, at the same speed. I bought a drawing pad from my collegue, and very soon I was able to even design patterns on my own! But that is a story for another blog entry. 

Hej då everyone, I hope you are learning as many new things during your internships as I do :)

Digital Marketing & Communication Intern

Dear all,

I am excited to read all of you entries so as to get a small glimpse of what you are doing during your different internships and projects. I am currently working my fifth week of my eight-week internship at Jollyroom in Gothenburg. You have probably already read about the company in Elin’s or Ellinor’s blog entries since we are at the same company but in different departments.  As a reminder, Jollyroom is the largest e-commerce on the Nordic market for children’s products. The company was founded in 2010 and their vision has since the establishment been to be the natural choice for the families. The company has only been available as an e-commerce until three weeks ago when they opened their first outlet store in connection to the distribution center.

Enough said about the company, let me introduce my department and the structure of the four blog entries you will have the opportunity to read. I am interning at the marketing department and am working with digital communication and marketing. Mainly I am producing content for their Facebook, Instagram and newly launched Snapchat. In regards to these three social media channels I am not only spending my days producing content both visually and verbally in accordance with the company’s marketing and communication strategy, but also analyzing and reflecting upon the result from the produced material. I find it interesting that the three social media platforms are used so as to reach different goals, but inevitably all striving to increase market shares and sales. Furthermore, my internship is a lot about integrating with the customers through social media so as to get a personal connection and understand the needs and wants better. Therefore, the following blog entries will focus on the differences amongst the social media channels. Whilst waiting, for those of you curious of what a day at the marketing department looks like you should follow Jollyroom at Snapchat (search for Jollyroom or use the code in the picture) and you will get an everyday glimpse from my internship – it is a lot of fun, I promise! P.S. It’s unfortunately in Swedish!

Wish you all a wonderful week!

Johanna