I started an internship with Tank magazine at the beginning of June, it kind of started off a little promising with my picture being taken on the first day for intern outfit of the week, them being seemingly impressed with me being speedy doing my jobs, on my second day doing returns stomping down Totters Court road I was stopped by a woman asking about my Tatty crownsies. We got talking it turned out her name was Madeleine and she was a stylist wanting hair accessories for a shoot she was doing the next day. I was all like:
"oOoOoOoh I wanna be a stylist too!" and I asked if she ever needed an assistant. She said I could assist her on her shoot the next day.
(Turns out it was for Augusts issue of Nylon magazine and was a hair story done by Alex Brownsell of Bleach salon.)
So I went and helped out Madeleine the next day. It was pretty fucking cool. I probberz did more stuff relevant to what I want to do than on any other placement I've ever done, as well as it being 10x more interesting than picking up clothes (which is all I have pretty much done on all three of my other placements, you/I get its part of your duties as an intern but they are your worst nightmare and very tedious.)
I had to go and pick up stuff from Henry Hollands studio (which is uber cute and kitch.) and to Jurgen Tellers agent. She also asked if I could take some shoes back to Matt Irwin, who is some awesomez photographer who has shot for i-D and Russian Vogue to name a few....so I was pretty much dribbling (and not from my mouth. JOKES!) Anywhoo. Since helping out on that day I left Tank at the end of my first week after spending £150 one weeks worth of travel (around London and commuting from Surrey.) I have assisted Madeleine a few times now, I helped out on a shoot for Dansk magazine, which was really cool and met the fashion director called Toby who seemed real lovely.
Madeleine said his style was quite nostalgic but he always liked to mix in a bit of sportswear (the shoot started off based on Elizabeth Taylor and then progressed onto something more.) Also she introduced me to the fashion director of Twin Magazine, Celestine Cooney who Madeleine herself assists. Celestine is really cool, she's a bit of tomboy and always looks real stylish but effortless. She says she's almost like a lezza or compared to being one by people in industry with her being quite boisterous. I've waited for clothes to be dropped off for shoots at Celestines crib, a job which can come with real cool benefits, one being that I can try on clothes that come in (so what if I was sad enough to take pictures of me posing in Givenchy menswear. WUUUUUT!?!?) But because of one time of waiting for clothes, for a Dazed & Confused shoot Celestine was doing meant that I got a phone call to help out on the shoot that Saturday. It turned out it wasn't just any shoot but a cover shot by none other than Rankin which lead me to cat leap around my front room and jump on my mama. Celestine shot an actor from Mexico called Gael Garcia Bernal, who has been in a film based on Che Guevera called the motorcycle diaries (I'm not going to lie. I've never watched it. Maybe one day.)
The shoot was at Rankin's studio. I'm not going to lie for the majority of the time I was there I steamed and hung up clothes, but it wasn't really the point. I still enjoyed it. I spent the day in a creative environment, around people working in industry and actually realised this is seriously what I want to do. It was nice to have been asked to come on the shoot and assist on it just because I waited for the clothes, I can't say thats ever happened to me before! It's just real cool that these women want to give me a chance and help me out as it kind of seems when you work for publications you don't really matter a lot of the time.
I have to say it did go all a bit Pete Tong last week. I was waiting for clothes for a shoot that Celestine was doing for her magazine Twin in New York (with some bad hottie model Yuri Pleskun.) I thought I was just waiting for clothes, when in fact I was supposed to be chasing clothes. Now when you chase clothes you need to have P.R agencies numbers and the specific P.R's name/email and possibly there direct number who are in charge of the labels you require to chase the brand/s that you have requested and the brands they have confirmed. It ended up that we were chasing clothes when neither me, Celestine or Adam (who also helps out Madeleine and Celestine from time to time) had the contacts for them, Madeleine did but was on a flight to N.Y.C at the time. No one was angry and it wasn't really anyones fault. But speaking to Celestine she said I now need to start keeping these P.R agents/agencies details in a book to contact as it's what makes you invaluable to a magazine or a stylist your assisting.
It's so weird. Within the past month I've done so much, assisting on shoots...almost getting sent to mens paris fashion week (still kills me now.)
I feel like that I'm learning so much more now out of uni about styling that I ever did in uni. I've got some really good advice about what to do, and I've decided that if the right opportunity arrises then I will leave my course as I don't want to have to take an extra 7/8 years from the time im 20/21 when I leave uni to establish myself in my career path.
