The last week before the Christmas break! Myself and Julinka were making a real push this week to get a few more designs together before the Christmas break so that there would be some fresh designs to take to appointments in the new year.
This was the first time where she really left me to come up with my own sort of concept and put together something that I had been inspired to design myself from the things I had been seeing in the shows. We’d both been talking about some of the floral Irish machine embroidery we had been seeing on gorgeous tuille garments in the shows. I also really wanted an excuse to drawn some really technical designs and tap back into the realistic drawings skills that I hadn’t really been using at my time at uni so far.
I started working on my design and drawing some floral motifs that I ended up being really proud of. It had been a long time since I felt like I had been focussing on aesthetics rather than concept. This was quite refreshing for me to start doing. I felt like a designer completing a professional brief. It made me realise that I can do both aesthetic and conceptual which was good for me to know that I am capable of both.
After I had got my floral design together Julinka set me the task of designing a cami with stars as she knew that Oliver Bonas was looking for something like this as they had sent her one of their mood boards prior to one of their next meetings. I designed this particular sample with a bit of a different mindset. This one was more about the quality of the motifs rather than the placement and composition as I Julinka told me that more conversational pieces like this (and especially stars in particular) don’t often get put on garments but would probably be purchased by an accessories department or something similar. This is why it was important for the motifs to all be slightly different so that even if one wasn’t right there was a variety to chose from to make it more appealing to the buyer. This again was an interesting take on designing for me to have a go at.
Rachel, one of Julinka’s freelances also came in this week to drop off a bundle of designs to the studio. This was really great to meet her and see her designs and how she writes them up. Rachel ends up doing to majority of Story sample designs as this is the main aspect of the business that she focuses on whereas Julinka obviously has various other responsibilities within the company like sales and admin etc. I learnt a little bit about Rachel’s background and how she got into the role she is in. Its conversations like these that I think are some of the most valuable things I have gained so far from dps year. It gives me a more realistic view of what I have in store after my graduation if I want to have a successful career in textiles in the future.
It was at this point where I had realised my time at Story was supposed to be coming to an end as I had only signed up to intern for three months up until the Christmas break. I had been actively looking for where I could move onto and I was looking into other places that were looking for interns, but something never really felt right whilst I was looking. I was having an overwhelming feeling that I would be taking a massive gamble if I was to move on from this internship whether I would get one that was as good and as rewarding as the one I was already doing. This was especially heightened from the success of the previous week with my design selling to Karen Millen.
I decided to pull Julinka to the side this week and ask her if she would be happy for me to stay a bit longer with Story because I was having such a good time and gaining so much valuable experience. Luckily she turned round and said she would be delighted for me to stay! She even gave me a hug. I was really happy that I had managed to form such a good relationship with my boss at this internship. It was also very humbling to know that she clearly valued me being a part of the team and was happy for me to stay with her for a little longer.
This took a lot of weight off of me and I knew as soon as I asked the question that it was the right decision for me at this point in the dps year to stay and see what more I could gain from Story.