Kaila Loew
Responsibilities
As the only Fashion Design Intern for SSH STUDIO, I was tasked with any and all areas of fashion! I was responsible for creating sketches, mood boards, and proposals for collaborations between the Artist and other well-known fashion brands. I would than present the boards with the Artist through private meetings! The second half of my internship was more independent work for the studio and creating custom garments! This included fabric printing, draping, patterning, sketching, fittings and sewing samples for the Artist!
Accomplishments
My greatest accomplishment during my internship was from start to finish making custom garments for a very well known artist in New York and globally. For the artist to have that trust and confidence in me with something very trial and error pushed my skills technically. I was able to grow as a designer and person in ways I did not know I was able to accomplish yet!
Learning experience
The greatest lesson I learned is to make it happen. You can make it happen, there is no reason, excuse or explanation you can give yourself for not chasing your dream internship. We all started from the same spot. We were all in the same boat struggling to learn how to sew a straight line. It is the passion and drive you have that will determine if you have what it takes to become the fashion designer you dreamed of being. In the end it is you who holds your future, take charge. If you want it you can make it happen, no question.
What advice would you give?
There are so many levels, steps and paths to take as a fashion designer. The minute you start to think and believe you are above a brand or company is when you have failed as a designer. There are so many hidden opportunities in this city, so many connections that these brands and people have built globally. It is not always in the big companies. You are not above anyone; you are not going to be the next Iris Van Herpen or Yves Saint Laurent while looking for an internship. Be humble and keep your mind open to the possibilities of what’s out there besides the big brands. You never know who you’ll meet in NYC.