juliamarzec

[juliamarzec]

Placement year evaluation

Redress laboratory

My first placement during the year was at Redress Laboratory, a small company in London which focused on up-cycling. I feel like due to the company being small I was able to influence and add to ideas as well as being able to work within different fields- not just marketing. Redress Laboratory was still mainly starting out so the company wasn’t as structured and many of the employees worked together doing different jobs. I think the experience I gained will be beneficial as well as the whole experience of London, in between work I was able to visit galleries, exhibitions and walk around for inspiration.

The second placement of the year was at Palmer Harding, the placement was only part-time however I feel I gained a lot of experience. The company was more luxury and also the pattern cutting was more complicated. I was working with the Studio team to copy patterns and create toiles, as well as calculating costing. The company was more structured and there was different teams which all worked towards the final project. The contrast between a much bigger company like Palmer Harding and a smaller company like Redress Laboratories was really noticeable and I’m glad I was able to intern at both as I could see the difference in the tasks as well as work load.

My last placement was at Just Harry, a denim up-cycling company. The team was very small as it consisted of only me and the owner. I was able to gain further experience in patterns as well as with sewing and overlocking for orders. Making me feel alot more comfortable of using the sewing machine. I was part of the pop ups and interacting with customers while talking about the brand which helped me to see how small companies may test out the market at pop ups (something we previously learnt in marketing).

Overall, the placement year has helped me to see contrasts between brands and to gain experience in different fields of fashion and marketing. I had hoped some of my placements would be abroad but due to covid that was not possible, I was still able to go to London and I can now see myself possibly living there in the future. I feel like I would like to gain even more experience so I will possibly be looking for further placements in the summer.

[juliamarzec]

Week 13 and 14

Monday 6th December

- Today I helped Harriett with creating the fabric for the panel jeans that were ordered at the Leeds Urban Outfitters pop up. I ironed out the seams and unpicked some more pairs.

- I also cut fabric from preloved jeans to create the panels.

- Harriett was then packaging an order of children’s t-shirts that was made at the Christmas market.

Monday 13th December

- Today was my last day at Just Harry.

- We continued to create the panel jeans. I ironed out the seams of the fabric.

- I also helped with tidying the room as the denim was getting mixed up etc.

- I was kindly gifted a tote bag and I brought denim in for a bandeau corset to be made for me. I started by unpicking all the denim I wanted to be used.

- We also had more orders for children’s tops, Harriett had already made them so all that was left was packaging. We then went and took all the orders including the finished jeans to the post office to be sent off in time for Christmas.

[juliamarzec]

Week 11 and 12

Monday 29th November

-Today I worked from home, I worked on the jeans poster and created changes that me and Harriett previously talked about to improve it.

Saturday 4th December

- Today I helped with the Urban Outfitters pop up at the Newcastle store. I met Harriett at the train station to help bring all the stock to the store.

- We then started to set up, we included mannequins and I helped with dressing them as well as organising the rails.

Sunday 5th December

- I worked at the pop up in Urban Outfitters on my own today as Harriett had to be at a different Christmas market. I talked to customers about the brand to create interest and gave out business cards to people who looked interested. I also sold a top and told customers about the made to order aspect.

- At the end of the day, I packed up all the items again to give back to Harriett the following day.

[juliamarzec]

Placement week 9 and 10

Monday 22nd November

- Today I was working from home, I started working on the creating the first version of the denim illustration poster. I then sent the draft to Harriett for any changes etc.

Sunday 28th November

- Today I helped with the pop up shop in Urban Outfitters Leeds. I got the train in the morning and then helped to set up the stall. Previously whilst on the train, I met some women who were sat near me and we chatted, I told them I’m in Leeds for the day working at a pop up and they came and visited the store with their daughter and bought one of the pieces from me. I talked about the company to potential buyers and gave them business cards to have a further look on Instagram etc. The day was so good and it was good to spread company awareness as well as sell some items.

[juliamarzec]

Placement Week 7 and 8

- I went to London for 3 days to look for inspiration towards the Fashion futures project. I revisited my favourite places in the city and tried to look for things that inspired me as a concept. I also researched sustainable companies and went into shops such as Selfridges to look at new collections, I saw the section of Selfridges were you can rent designer clothing in an act to be more sustainable. As I looked around the shop floor I also noticed some clothing with green tags to show that it was a sustainable collection.

- I visited pop up art galleries which I saw on my way around Soho and Camden. One of them being a postcard exhibition which involved different artists, the postcards were then all auctioned off.

- Whilst in Soho, I also went into a gallery and spoke to one of the artists, he was so nice and we talked about creative inspirations and different places to showcase work. He showed me him signing one of his books as well as the stamps he uses within his work. We talked about the different people that buy his work and the price points, he does pop ups all over the world and most of his pieces are sold for around £15,000.I took afew photos of him but then he asked if he’d be able to take a photo of me as my hoodie matched one of his pieces.

- After my trip, I worked on the sustainability research for Just Harry.

Monday 15th November

- Today I created more stockings as there were new orders, the pop ups and Christmas markets were also coming up therefore we made a few extra to sell.

[juliamarzec]

Placement Week 5 and 6

Monday 25th October

- For today I was creating decorations for Christmas as well as using previous offcuts from overlocking to stuff them.

Tuesday 26th Ocotober

- I continued with the decorations for the first half of the day.

- I then had to unpick jeans which were sent by a customer which will later be turned into a stuffed seat.

Monday 1st November

- Today I was working from home due to Harriett being ill. I was given the task to do some marketing.

- I started by researching facts about denim production and the impact on the environment as well as the impact of clothing going into landfill. This will later be used as an instagram highlight to show how Just Harry is trying to solve this problem by re-using denim.

- I also came up with the idea to create an illustration demonstrating how Just Harry use a singular pair of jeans to create a variety of clothing and accessories to give customers a better understanding of the company.

[juliamarzec]

Placement Week 3 and 4

Monday 11th October

-The day mainly consisted of finishing the fabric for the dungaree order. I started off with sewing the panelled fabric together and then steamed all the seams so that they were flat. Harriett then started the pattern cutting process.

- I also cut out the pattern pieces for the Christmas stockings and then began sewing the first stocking sample.

Tuesday 12th October

- On this day, I unpicked more jeans as well as pattern cutting for the stockings.

Monday 18th October

- I pattern cut two letters for the customised stockings.

- I started sewing the stockings, including the two customised stockings which have been preordered.

[juliamarzec]

Placement week 1 and 2

Monday 27th September

This was my first day of my internship at Just Harry. The day mainly consisted of admin tasks as well as getting to know the company and Harriett.

I exported and reduced file sizes of images from shoots which will be used as product images on a new website.

I also unpicked and cut out bits of stretch denim which is used for packaging. I then started to sew together the pieces to create denim ribbon.

Monday 4th October

I finished sewing the denim ribbon. And Harriett and I took some aesthetic photos of the process.

Tuesday 5th October

My main task for the day was to overlock pieces of denim which will be used to create panelled dungarees a customer recently ordered.

I also started to cut out Christmas related shapes for the new Christmas stock that will be released soon.

[juliamarzec]

September 1st-12th

I did some more drawings from Vogue runway as well as another painting.

I messaged Newcastle based companies on Instagram that were recommended by Sams placement boss.

I got a reply from Just Harry designs and will be starting placement there from 27th September part-time til December.

[juliamarzec]

July & August

July

I moved into my flat in Newcastle. I also visited Tynemouth for the markets and beach.

I went and got a new tattoo and explored Leeds on my own which was so relaxing.

August

I had an interview with Vivienne Westwood for accessories design. It was so lovely to meet the team and talk about the internship. However I later found out I was unsuccessful due to how many applicants with similar skills there were.

I applied for jobs in Newcastle to start paying myself back the money I spent in London earlier this year.

[juliamarzec]

June

I moved back home in June and tried to spend most my time relaxing with family while also staying creative. I created a painting for when I move into my house in Newcastle in July.

I also saw friends and visited Sheffield, where I went exploring.

[juliamarzec]

W/C 24th May

24th May

Today was shoot day, the location was a flat complex.

I was working with a new intern to prepare props as the shoot consisted of photos and a video.

25th May

I had the day off so I went to Brick Lane to my favourite shops. I also went to the graffiti park to see people spray painting and playing music.

26th May

I did a marketing video on Linkedin for Redress.

27th May

Today was my last day at Redress. I had a call with the team to catch up on everything mainly.

In the evening me and my boss went out for drinks as a goodbye.

[juliamarzec]

W/C 17th May

17th May

The art galleries opened again so I decided to book some before I leave London. I went to the Tate.

18th May

In the morning, I created belts out of chains to be styled with some of the garments.

I then made a moodboard to be posted into a creative group on Facebook. To say that we are looking for a model, mua and photographer for a shoot.

19th May

I sent one of the models the Curtain is Up video.

I then submitted photos to another magazine.

In the afternoon, I created a presentation on Canva about the sustainable workshops which will be shown in schools.

20th May

I did research for an upcoming interview.

For Redress Laboratory, I attached a pocket to a bag.

I also stitched on trims to a skirt to make it easier to sew later as the fabric moves alot.

I created my own design of a bag similar to the first one but with different aspects. First as a small sketch and then on illustrator.

21st May

Today I had an interview for menswear design at Urban Outfitters. It went so well and I got through to the design task stage. However although mentioned in my cover letter, they were only allowing placements that were year long which interfered with university.

[juliamarzec]

W/C 10th May

11th May

I started the day with sending shoot photos to Maya, Martha and Katherine.

I then also sent the makeup moodboard to Katherine for the next shoot.

I emailed Charlotte (the copywriter) to write a small paragraph about herself which will be included at the bottom of her blog post.

In the morning I posted a fluxogram onto the Instagram feed.

The curtain is up video was ready so I posted it on Instagram as a reel later on. I also posted the video on Facebook.

In the afternoon, I starter the blot template for ‘we are sustainable’ as well as a draft email to send to Greenwich Peninsula for a Sample spring sale.

12th May

I started the day with finishing the blog draft on Canva.

I also finished the draft email to Greenwich Peninsula.

I created a graphic on illustrator to show that Redress is sustainable, the graphic will be featured in one of the blogs and uses the brands colours.

In the afternoon, I started a moodboard which included all the fitting photos and notes.

I then cut out fabric for a bag.

13th May

In the morning, I created a Vimeo account and uploaded the curtain is up video onto it.

I then researched and made a list of Schools that would be suitable for the workshops.

I sent some photos from the shoot to Thomas - the graphic designer.

I also uploaded a video of the deadstock fabrics we use onto Instagram.

[juliamarzec]

W/C 3rd May

4th May

At Redress, I finished the monster costumes to the specifications of the customer feedback. I also did a specification sheet so the seamstress knew what fabrics to use etc.

I then helped with organising more of the dropbox, pricing the items for the website and writing about size and fit for the descriptions.

I took photos for a donation post to be posted on the Instagram story and uploaded a styling photo to the feed.

5th May

I started the day by posting the donation photos onto the story.

I then created a blog template on canva for The Lab Room.

Lastly, I drafted emails for magazine submissions with photos from the latest shoot

6th May

I started the day by posting an Instagram story.

I then sent magazine submissions which i drafted yesterday to Blanc and Hunger magazines.

In the afternoon, I unpicked parts of a Burberry jacket which was given by a customer, they wanted a more cinched in waistline.

I then cut out fabric for a pair of custom pants as part of the revamping services Redress Laboratory provides.

I also created a newsletter for schools as Redress Laboratory is partnering with a children’s charity to provide workshops on sustainability and clothing for local schools.

[juliamarzec]

W/C 26th April

26th April

At Palmer Harding, I copied patterns and mainly did costings.

In the afternoon, I unpicked part of a garment and restitched it in a different way to slightly change the design.

27th April

At Palmer Harding, I helped with stitching a toile ready to be sent off for production

I then helped to tidy the scrap fabric and fusing boxes.

In the afternoon, I took photos of the garments and details as well as working out costing for binding.

I did more copying of patterns followed by cutting fabric ready to be sewn the following day.

28th April

Today was my last day at Palmer Harding, in the morning I finished cutting the fabric for the garment.

I then unpicked parts of a shirt and resewed them in another way. The placement was so good and gave me a big insight into the industry, I really enjoyed working with the team.

In the afternoon, at Redress Laboratory, I started by creating a document to sign for the photo release.

Later in the day I posted an Instagram photo of a styling post.

29th April

I continued with adjustments of a design for a kids halloween costume as requested by a client for Redress, I used illustrator to create different design developments.

I then posted an Instagram story of the fabric used for the garments.

30th April

I started the day by designing more developments for the monster costume.

I then created a blog template for how the blog should look on the website for the website developer.

In the afternoon, I helped with last changes to the dropbox for the website, which was alot of organising and sorting files.

[juliamarzec]

W/C 19th April

19th April

At Palmer Harding, in the morning I was given the task of copying patterns.

In the afternoon, I was adjusting pattern pieces. In addition, I was cutting out and fusing fabric pieces for a skirt and t-shirt to be sewn tomorrow.

20th April

For Palmer Harding, in the morning I helped with copying patterns.

I then helped to cut extra pieces in fabric for the skirt.

In the afternoon, there was a fitting, during the fitting I helped to unpick some topstitching. I then cut out a finished pattern as well as cutting it out in fabric for it to be sewn tomorrow.

21st April

In the morning, for Palmer Harding I started sewing a shirt.

In the afternoon, for Redress Laboratory I had a zoom call with some of the team to talk about the blog posts. I then had an additional call to talk about my tasks for the day and week.

I sorted through the dropbox files for the website item descriptions and documents.

I then uploaded a donation story onto Instagram.

22nd April

For Redress Laboratory, in the morning, I sorted through the dropbox folders and added images into correct ones.

In the afternoon, I had a zoom call with the copy writer about product descriptions and the collection description.

My last task was to wear one of the pieces and create interesting photos styled in how I would wear the garment.

23rd April

In the morning, for Redress Laboratory, I finished drafting the website descriptions as agreed with the copy writer.

I then posted a video of the new logo on Instagram.

I took videos of the upcycling of a shower mat bag that was being created.

I then edited the photos that were taken yesterday.