My Internship at Jed Phoenix
Introduction: Looking for an Internship
My name is Sade van Gestel and I am 18 years old. I go to school in Holland and take the course fashion & commerce so we get to do a little bit of everything that happends in the fashion industry. In my third and final year I had a choice to take an internship abroad or do another one in Holland. Because i had already done about 3 internships in Holland, I wanted something new. My decision was to take up an internship in London. My reason for this is because London is a great place to be in and you can learn so much from it in all kind of aspects. But this was easier said then done. Most companies want interns which are already are experienced. So that means you need to be a proffesional. So you can't really get anywhere if you are student trying to gain the experience So I had done some research and looking at companies that interested me. Then I came across Jed Phoenix of London and eventhough I dont quite dress like the way many people do who buy clothing at Jed Phoenix, it did caught my eye. Because it was different to what i have already seen and I like different. Love to learn new things! So it was a challenge for me but I know i would learn allot on the way!
I found Jed Phoenix internship advertisment via a searchengine for internships and jobs. Can't really remember what the website was called after all I had been doing research for days! I decided to view the website and emailed immediatly seeing that I didn't have anything to lose. To my surpise I got a reply back the next day which made me very happy! I phoned straight away and Jed was well chuffed! Because I was really keen on getting the job. So we made an appointment to meet up and talk about this internship. Ofcourse we had contact by email in between because Jed was really busy so we met up a month after I emailed. When I got to London I got lost at first knowing only my way to oxfordstreet haha! I never knew London was actually so big and it had all different neigbourhoods. I was lucky I brought one of my mates with me because otherwise I would of ended up on the other side of England!
When we finally got to the studio I was really fascinated on how Jed does everything. She does all of her work herself and it are all her ideas. So she was quite busy on that day, but found some time to it me down and talk about the whole internship. Because I am not that magic with my fingers and didn't get allot of hands on work at school I was kind of worried. But we spoke out all the oppurtunitties that could happend within this company. So at then end of the day I went home with an internship in London and was ecstatic!
The preparation of my Internship
Because I am going abroad, there are allot of thing you need to think about. It's not like going to work and coming back to your own house and friends and things you are used to doing. No, you are going to a complete different country and basicly you have to leave everything you are used to behind. So I had to have a great time before I left Holland. I went on holiday had loads of party and a goodbye party for everyone to come who wanted to say goodbye to me! So it was kind of hard leaving when you actually see al showed up at the party. I had allot to take with me seeing as everybody got me pictureframes photo albums and teddybears to take with me! But I was ready for it For a new change and experience. So I left on the 10th of septemeber thursday morning still very chocked up about everything I was really going to miss my friends and family. But i knew as soon as i would start my internship i would be fine. So me and my dad got on a boat because the plane wouldnt be able to carry all of my stuff haha! We arrived at my familys house round noon. Yeah, another thing! I am half English so I did have accomodation and was actually living with people who i could trust and know! When I got settled in I emailed Jed saying I arrived safeley. So we emailed back and forth on what time I could start. Here we goooo.!
My first days..
My first day started on the 15th of September which was on a tuesday. It all started out that I couldn't sleep that night. I was so nervous not only because it was going to be my first day but also How the hell am i going to find my way on my own?! And what am i wearing! So there I was on Cheshunt station waiting for the London Liverpool Street train. It was quite easy actually But I had to change so many times! And the underground is murder in the mornings so I was kind of stuck in a corner and squashed by loads of people.But then worst thing was about to come. The bus! I never get busses and I have figured them out in Holland but here they are so different so I was really scared to get on the wrong bus and will it go the right way? So I just tried it and I had some instructions Jed made me to recongize if i was going the right way. And eventually I did get of at the rigth stop. Only i couldnt remember the walk to get down to the studio because they are buildings surrounding it. So I tried and just done what i thought was right! So I got up to the right floor and knocked on the door. And luckily I was at the right place haha! After having a very short chat we got to work straight away. The first thing I had to do was help out was to cut fabric. Because this was the beginning of making loads trousers that were orderd and to be put on the website. I was hesitating a little bit because I am a bit insecure when it comes to the handwork. I am better at computerskills and finding ideas for the company. But Jed helped me through it and teached me how to cut it and she was telling me along the way where the fabric comes from and why she uses this particual type of fabric. And after that we went to cut the fabric out with the paterns. So you basicly have to pin it with the fabric so it stays put and that makes it easier to cut around it. Jed taught me that if you pin more fabric together it takes less time and you get more paterns out of it. So we focussed on that in the morning. After lunch Jed put me up with some research about the gothsubculture which is really interesting. You find all these things about the culture that you may not even know or that you maybe had different thougths about the subculture and see that it isn't like that at all. And after the research my day was about finished. I was amazed on how much I had acutually learned on my first day.
Trouble
So when I thought everything was finally sorted. I Looked at my bank balance and found out that the school didn't put my fundings on my acount. which meant there was no traveling money or rent money to give. So my own money was running out and I this ment i couldn't travel to Jed Phoenix. Because the travelling cost aren't cheap!. So, this ment maybe to quit the internship and go back to holland and do an internship there or try my best to sort everything out!. So that is what i did. I booked a flight to Holland and went to my school, got hold of the contracts and phoned the company that gives out the loans to students, I had to do this with help of my teacher who arranges all the internships. It was very hard and kind of annyoning because I had to spend all my left over money to arrange things that i thought already had been arranged. So the conclusion of the problem was that they mixed me up with different dates on when the internship was starting. So i arranged that i would get my fund. And then after a quik meeting with my friends, I was off to England for the second time! But this time it was permanent because I had my fund and the contracts!
The real thing
So this time, I could learn on the long run I had up untill December to learn all these new skills. At first I was kind of scared doing the hands on stuff because at school we didnt get allot of practical things done. But Jed taught me how to draw on to fabric and how to press. That is what I learned in my second week. It always look so easy when you see somebody else do it but then you have to do it yourself and then its kind of different. I got the hang of it after a couple of days. With these skills we made some braced together. And she taught me the whole process on how to make them. So I had been practising allot
In my third week my days were split in half. So in the morning I would help out Jed with prepping garments so they could be sewn. So basiclly you have to keep working so everyone has something to do. In the daytime I would do some research. In that week it was about goth. Just to see what it is all about because there are allot of missconceptions in this world about the subculture about goth. So there is allot to reasearch . Because its a huge subculture. I also helped libby out with her sewing workshop that was coming up. She was working for open house and she wanted the children to be inspired by london acrhitecture. So i researched all the buildingd and architecture so she could use this for her workshop.
The fourth week was more individual.Jed gave me the task to make the braces we had been making together the week before on my own. Because it was kind of a busy week so everyone was doing their own thing. Ofcourse she would give me some pointers along the way but I had to use my own instinct this time. So I was very nervous but I would just try and go for it. It went well with the drawing and cutting them out. And ofcourse the pressing, don't know why but I really like doing it haha. Sometimes Jed had to correct me but everything was thankfully fixable! No hard damage done! After a hectic morning after lunch I done research on the goth subculture on the subject of what kind of types there are in the subculture. And I was amazed on how many types there are in the culture. They all looks so different aswell and all have their own style. Also in this week i done research on what kind of websites there are on the internet about goths and alternative clothing just to get a peek at some styles.
In the fifth week we carried on making the braces. So it was constant thesame in one day which was good for me because this means I got to memorise the whole process and don't have to question it anymore and just go for it! After that monday I went to a concert in London which was a very good experience.Got back a bit late though! And had an early start in the morning to travel to Jed Phoenix. But it was all worth it! In the next two days I got to learn how to make the well known strapped trousers of Jed Phoenix. It was easy to strap the trousers but to make them was a different thing! But I got the hang of it on the way. Now I knew even more about desigining and that feels really cool!
My sixth week was kind of unfortunate. I had a really bad infected eye because I didnt take my contacts out at Night! I know, really stupid thing to do but I kind of had forgotten because I was tired. So I wasn't able to come in because I could hardly see and if I could it hurt really bad! So I had 2 days of and on the wednesday I came back . Not fully recoverd but I wore my glasses this time instead of contacts. But I did do some work so I was happy to have still learned some things in these weeks. We were making sporrans so I was getting everything prepared to make them . So we needed binding cut and drawings had to be made. That kept me busy for the day.
The seventh week was a really busy week. Because Whithby Goth Weekend was coming up.So the stock needed to be ready to get packed to be taken to WGW. And ofcourse we designed loads more to take away aswell. Mainly I was the sporran queen that week I made allot! But it was good I memorized some of it so I could try and do it on my own! On the Wednesday I didn't go in to the studio but helped out Libby in Greenwich. She was doing a sewingclass for childeren because it was halloween.All of the childeren could make their own customes. It was soooo busy it was hectic. And at the end of the day it was a mess. But it was good to see childeren walking away happily with there outfits.
