On holiday...

The Perpetual Intern is taking a holiday right now, but will be back at the end of July! x

The Visual Team at French Connection HQ

Situated alongside the Marketing team at French Connection, the Graphics and Visual teams work their magic. It is thanks to them that sitting at my desk feels as though I have been plonked in the middle of an art studio, which I love!

At the moment, the team are putting together all of the graphics for AW10, which is exciting - but also a glum reminder that the longest day has been and gone and that summer will be over in no time! With this in mind, French Connection is taking inspiration from the typical windy days of British autumn in the plans for the AW10 window displays. Here is the mock-up that has just been erected behind my desk:

Pretty cool, huh?

Marie Claire - Inspire and Mentor Event

HOW TO GET IN TO FASHION

Today I attended the Marie Claire 'how to get in to fashion' event - a networking opportunity for aspiring fashionista's, graduates, school leavers, and basically anyone with the shared goal of making a career for themselves in the world of fashion. It was a fantastic opportunity to get some real insight from real professionals, and I though it would be nice for me to pop along so I could tell you a bit about it.

The panel included;

Boutique Buyer for Matches - Georgina Gaiza

Up and coming Fashion Designer - William Tempest

Head of Communications at River Island - Sarah Walter

It was Sarah in particular, who really inspired me. Her CV is very impressive - she has worked at Harpers, at New Look (responsible for their brilliant collaborations with Lily Allen, Kelly Brook etc), and now River Island to name but a few, and yet, at the start of Sarah's career, she took 4 years out of Fashion to run Safaris in Africa! How brilliant is that! It just made me realise that there is no cardboard cut-out model for success, and that in this industry, it really does take all-sorts.

In case you missed this event, here are the panel's top tips:

1. Internships, internships, internships - they could not stress how beneficial these are. William Tempest did his internship with Giles Deacon, and the others all mentioned that a really great intern will always leave an impression, and that can lead to so much more.

2. Nothing is beneath you when you start at the bottom, and in Fashion, everybody does. A positive attitude goes a long way.

3. Fashion should be intuitive and personal, be confident in who you are.

4. Don't be afraid to take risks and chances - almost all of the people on the panel got where they were partly by being open-minded opportunists.

Hope this helps!

Bargain Hunt: The joy of the Sample Sale

As a lowly intern, there are a few things that you know you're going to have to do. One of those things, is contributing your blood, sweat and tears to putting together the Sample Sale. I can honestly say that I didn't think all of the rails of clothes would even fit in the showroom at Centro One, but they did. And thanks to all of my hard work, I knew exactly where to look for the really great bargains, because I put them there!

Here are my top Sample Sale steals...

Dress RRP £55

Sample Sale steal £10

Dress RRP £135

Sample Sale steal £15

I am planning on wearing this to a summer BBQ this weekend with a pair of nude gladiator flats - perfect!

Bag RRP £60

Sample Sale steal £10

The Great Plains Spa Day at French Connection HQ

It was another eventful day at French Connection, and this time the press office was turned into a Day Spa for the staff - all in the name of charity, of course...!

Great Plains, who are part of the same company as French Connection, have announced a collaboration with Plan, one of the largest child-centered community development organisations in the world. You can find out more about what they do here.

In order to raise staff awareness, Plan sent a representative in to talk to everyone about the great work that they do - whilst Benefit, Dermologica and HOB helped to raise some more money by offering facials, hair styling and makeovers. It was such a great way to get all of the staff to interact with the charity and find out more about why Great Plains were working with them, and really helped the staff feel involved in making a difference. It was also amazing to spend your coffee break enjoying a relaxing facial!

French Connection's Secret Garden Shopper Events

For the past two weeks, French Connection has been holding nine exclusive shopping events, including three in London, as publicised in Grazia magazine. Lucky Grazia readers could apply for an e-ticket and enjoy an evening of drinks, nibbles and discounts - and for a spend over £75, a goody bag packed to the brim with summer essentials.

I have been working on the logistics for these events since I started my internship, and what makes them extra special for me, is that I had the opportunity to come up with the name 'French Connection's Secret Garden'. Picked from a handful of ideas, I thought that it encapsulated the feel of French Connection's summer collections perfectly, and tied in with the exclusivity of the event. It was amazing seeing something from my own imagination come to fruition, and then splashed across the pages of Grazia magazine!

Organising all of the logistics for the events was challenging at times, but I loved seeing everything come together. The Benefit girls provided an in-store brow bar, and along with Tony & Guy and Gu, provided us with treats for the goody bags. We also had some lovely event staff handing out desserts and drinks to our happy shoppers.

Being so heavily involved in these events has been the most rewarding part of my internship so far, because I got to see every part of the process, from conception to execution. On the night of the Regent Street event I was on a permanent high! If you look carefully at the photo below you can just see me operating the guest list...and modelling a lovely dress that I was allowed to borrow from the Press Office for the occasion, which you can see in it's full glory here.

FCUK: PUBLIC SAMPLE SALE!

I am so excited about this, I had to share it. Preparations have started at head office for the 3 day public Sample Sale - if you live in London I can guarantee, it's one not to miss! I will let you know what gems I find for you to look out for...