Sometimes during SCADstyle, alumni come together to share their myriad of varying experiences in the fashion industry. On April 11, 2018, the panel consisted of four of these talented former students. These four people were Eduardo Calvo-Mendoza, Thomas Finney, Recho Omondi, and Rita Watson.
Despite them all graduating with a BFA in Fashion, each has their own inspirational stories to tell. Omondi, who presently owns her own brand of clothing, graduated SCAD with an internship in New York City. Following her internship, she worked retail at Barney’s New York and later proceeded to launch her own line and company. Finney, who had a similar experience to Omondi, worked with companies such as Thom Browne and Club Monaco but now has his own line of “made to measure” clothing. Watson collaborated with special project teams and had an internship in New York City following graduation. She now works as a designer and team leader for various departments within Kate Spade. For the past five years, Mendoza currently works for Tory Burch as a designer and creative assistant.
During the discussion, each alumnus spoke about their time at SCAD and how the school prepared them for the industry. Portfolios, in particular, were brought up and the alumni agreed that yes, companies care about your portfolio work; but it goes beyond that. All of the foundation and tech classes SCAD requires makes a graduate a better candidate for a job in the industry because of how well rounded they are. Another important skill includes how you can start a conversation and know different facets of the industry. Omondi added that “Conversation starters are bait.” She also said that you need to have the “whole package” and SCAD gives you those tools needed to stand out among potential hires.
Also mentioned during the discussion was the idea of experiences and how “There’s no internship or job that’s not going to help you” said Omondi. All of the alumni had an internship during their time at SCAD and after graduating as well. Mendoza explained that internships and any job experience are the time to make mistakes so that if you were to start your own company you wouldn’t make the same ones again. Diving deeper, he added “you make a lot of mistakes out of other people’s expenses.” All the alumni agreed that during these internship phases you can learn what to do and what not to do from mentors so you are ready for what you may face in the future.
One of the points that stuck out most during the discussion was the conversation about picking the right company for yourself and choosing what you want to focus on in the fashion industry. Watson explained that “to be successful, you need to find a company you can connect with”. When she walked into Kate Spade during the first day of her internship, she said she knew it was the place for her to be working at. While Watson knew that Kate Spade was the company for her, Finney knew that he would center his career around building his own brand.
The discussion in its entirety inspired the current SCAD students at the panel to know what they want when they graduate; and that being in the industry isn’t easy, but if you make the right connections, and use the skills obtained from your education at SCAD, then success is not far and is, in fact, very attainable. Whether it is working for a large company or starting their own brand, the SCAD alumni undoubtedly proved their skills within the industry.
Written by Arianna Danzig
Graphic image via SCAD