Zenia The Intern
September 30, 2010
Who Said This Would be Easy PT.2
The morning of Brian and Jill’s first day away, I woke up at 6 A.M. I took a deep breath, prayed everything would go smoothly and ate a king size chocolate bar. For the entire 10 days they were gone to New York and L.A., I could only think of words followed by statements or questions to describe my emotions, while I conquered everything on my “To Do List.”
My first task was to manage the interns. About 10 garments needed buttons sewed on them and put into a box with other pieces to be taken to UPS by 6 P.M.
So maybe I should have planned a little better because by 5:45pm, I literally had sweat running down my face as Stephina and I were running to UPS with boxes bigger than us and looking a little crazy. Not to mention the 90 degree weather that day.
After the UPS fiasco, I started working on a cut for Jill. I was told by Jill they were in such a hurry to catch their flight the night before that they could not finish cutting out all of the pieces to a style that needed to be sewn and ready by the time they got back to SF for delivery.
I knew that I had the following 2 days to complete it but with class the next morning and work the following day, I had to do it that night. When I finally finished, I realized it was 3 A.M. but thanks to a large cup of coffee I was still able to complete my homework in time for my 8:30 A.M. class.
The rest of the week went smoother and a huge amount was done between myself and the interns.
The day of Jill’s arrival, I went to the studio to answer any questions she might have. I walked through the door and her first words were, “You are amazing!”
- Zenia Kim______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
September 29, 2010
Who Said This Would be Easy
This past week was a busy one with school, work, and of course interning. Today marks the day of Jill and Brian’s return from their trip to L.A. and New York. While they were out of town, I was in charge of a few things.
I have to admit that managing my own responsibilities as a student plus all of the tasks that were given to me by Jill were quite challenging, but everything got done and I can definitely say that I learned a lot!
First off, I want to thank all of the interns who, despite Jill being away, still came in to help with this seasons production. To: Sara, Stephina, and Stella… Thank you for all of your help. Read on to the next post to follow my adventures while the designers are away.
Spring 2011 Photo Shoot
Saturday nights are always long nights for me working as a server at The Cheesecake Factory. I usually get home around 2:30 a.m. and just sleep in the next morning. But not this Sunday, I had to meet Jill and Brian at the studio at 8:30 a.m. for their Spring 2011 photo shoot.
I knew they still had a lot to do and would probably get little if any rest the night prior. So I volunteered to get breakfast and lunch for the crew. I am not a morning person but in the fashion world, you have to be a morning person, night person, and pretty much an all day person.
As soon as I entered the studio, Jill immediately had a few tasks for me. Despite how tired I was, I thought, “Spring ‘11 Photo Shoot, exciting!!! No need for coffee!” And I already knew the shoes were going to be amazing, which by the way, everyone loved.
The shoot went well. We worked with new hair and makeup people who were amazing. Amy looked hot as usual and everyone loved her new hair cut and color. Drake did an awesome job (no surprise) and I cannot wait to see the photos!!!
It was very rewarding to see everything come together for Jill and Brian. It was also nice to see how well they work together and just how much they count on each other. Both of them contribute something unique to gr.dano and this clearly explains their success thus far. In the words of Jill Giordano, “GO TEAM!”
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________Shoe Shopping With Brian
In preparation for the gr.dano spring 2011 photo shoot, I was asked by Jill to accompany Brian to gather some fabulous shoes for the shoot. I will be honest with you, I am not a shoe person and I still strive to put the perfect outfit together from head to toe for events and special occasions, let alone for an actual photo shoot. Given that both Jill and Brian were running on very little sleep for this shoot, I felt the pressure to make this a quick and successful trip with no hassles. I most definitely kept my mouth shut about not being a shoe person and grabbed a few choices which I thought were hopeful. One quick look from Brian and all my choices were put back.After a few more minutes of searching, Brian finds a sandal and asks my opinion. The choice was questionable but I tried it on. Low and behold, it was the perfect sandal and as a result I felt a little less girly. I reminded myself, I am shoe shopping with a straight man that has better taste than me. Brian, How dare you!
Sandals worn by Amy@Look Models
We were able to successfully gather another shoe in two color choices and a couple of belts in just under 45 minutes. Whew! I was honestly quite happy that things went smoothly because I had a long night ahead of me at work and the photo shoot was the next morning.
- Zenia Kim ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________August 13,2010
Meet Zenia The Intern
Photo courtesy of Zenia
During the first couple of months of interning for Jill, I noticed that a normal day at the studio meant working anywhere between 10-15 hours a day, 6 to 7 days a week. I always waited for that “break,” when Jill would tell me that she would take a week off from all of her hard work to lounge in celebration of the end of a season. . . well, that never happened.
Almost a year and a half later, every day is the same as the first: Long hours, deadlines, garments to pick up, spec, tag and ship out, samples to sew, meetings, conference calls, unavoidable obstacles throughout the day….. the list goes on and on.
Not to say that there isn’t anything great that comes from their hard work. My goal as an intern is to continue to be a part of something great and it feels awesome to be able to share that with you. So stay tuned for more of my experiences as an intern for gr.dano.
Zenia:
Where are you going to school? I looked for it in a post, but didn’t see it mentioned.
Thanks,
Jean
I attend the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.