Introducing Miranda Brackett
Miranda Brackett is a senior here at Moore College of Art and Design. She has had a wide variety of internship experiences during her time at Moore, some even as early as her sophomore year! This just goes to show that it is never too early to start getting experience in your field! In order to help other students looking for a way to get their foot in the door we asked our rising fashion designer Miranda for some helpful insight.
Landing the Internship
Even though most Moore students acquire their first internship junior year, Miranda deliberately went searching for her internship sophomore year. She had always been interested in working at LL Bean, an active outdoor company in Maine, which happened to be only about an hour and 45 minutes away from her hometown. Lauren Lafey was a senior when Miranda was a freshman and acquired a job at LL Bean as a designer when she graduated. Though Miranda did not know Lauren well, she had spoken to her a few times. During the winter break of her sophomore year, Miranda sent Lauren a Facebook message congratulating her on her job and asking if she would like to go out to lunch. Lauren and Miranda went to lunch and on a tour of the design department at LL Bean. While on tour, Lauren brought up the subject of Miranda being an intern at LL Bean. Of course, Miranda sent her resume and cover letter soon after. Lafey talked to her boss Lynette Kirk, who is also a Moore alumna – who ended up interviewing and hiring Miranda as a summer intern.
The Internships
Miranda interned at LL Bean the summer before and during the winter break of her junior year. During the summer she interned for both Outerwear and Menswear. Miranda would alternate departments every week. In the winter Miranda only worked in Menswear. During her internship Miranda went to fittings, production meetings, prepared boards of our designs for presentations, made a trim library, developed color stories, and organized samples. She did not get many design responsibilities but she did gain an in-depth understanding of how the company ran and designed their products. Her mentors at LL Bean made sure to go above and beyond to teach her and make her feel comfortable at her internship. Miranda still keeps in contact with them today.
The summer before her senior year Miranda interned at Abercrombie. Interning at LL Bean really helped Miranda get her internship at Abercrombie. During her interview with an Abercrombie recruiter Miranda told her that she had already done two internships at LL Bean, loved them, and was planning on going back to LL Bean for the summer unless Abercrombie could offer her an opportunity she could not refuse. They were thoroughly impressed with Miranda’s work ethic and gave her the experience of a lifetime.
During her time at Abercrombie, Miranda was placed in the Guys Rugged Knits department of Abercrombie Kids. Miranda’s mentor taught her how to do everything at the company and gave her their assignments. Miranda had almost the same design responsibility as the head designer of Guys Rugged Knits. Her mentor cut their workload in half every day and give her half. Anytime something new would come up her mentor taught her exactly what to do. Miranda learned how to approve samples from vendors, make tech packs, make line sheets, research for design inspiration, design for line review summer 2012, present her designs, and even present to the CEO of the company. Miranda also went to production meetings, graphics meetings, stripe layout meetings, and fittings. During her time at Abercrombie & Fitch Miranda had a complete understanding of the designers’ roles and how the company worked.
Miranda feels that both of her internships, especially the one at Abercrombie, prepared her to be competitive in the design field. She has no doubt that with her skills she would have been able to find a different job if she wanted to at a different company than Abercrombie.
Multiple Internships?
Miranda feels that having multiple internships is necessary to be competitive. Companies want to know that you can handle the demands of the field you are entering. Having more then one internship proves that you can work at many different companies well. The fact that Miranda interned multiple times at LL Bean, interned at Abercrombie & Fitch and was then offered a job shows that Miranda is a valuable employee and makes other companies interested in hiring her.
Also, internships give you an opportunity to connect with many people at once. If you are good at networking and staying connected with people it will lead to references, mentors, and even job offers later down the road.
Internships are also a great way to find out what you like and do not like. For example Miranda never knew she wanted to be a menswear designer but after her two internships in menswear she is now developing a menswear senior collection and portfolio.
Miranda displays an excellent success story: Abercrombie & Fitch offered her a two-year contract after her internship with them this summer. When Miranda graduates, she will be relocating to Columbus Ohio and working at Abercrombie & Fitch’s headquarters as a Guys Rugged Knits Designer.
Miranda’s Advice
It is important that students really spend time thinking about where they want to intern. Miranda recommends that students intern for a company that has an internship program so that they know they will be learning and could possibly be hired by the company. They should make sure it is a company they would want to work for and is something they are interested in not just interning at because it is convenient and to get college credit. It is important that while at an internship you think of it as an extended job interview. Always think about how you are being perceived by your coworkers and bosses. Go the extra mile to show you care come in early, and stay late if needed. Be professional: do not text, talk about inappropriate things, or show up to work hung over.
Be a sponge while you are interning: keep a journal of everything you are learning and always write things down so you do not forget them. A good goal is to always only need to be told something once. If Miranda’s boss tells her where a file is, she writes it down so that she will not forget it and does not have to ask again.
Make sure you network! Before you leave get the people you have worked for emails and phone numbers and make sure you stay in contact with them!
Finally, go after what you want. No one is going to hand you anything. You need to start researching companies early, contacting them about internships, and job openings, and always think about what connections you have and how you can use them. Without knowing Lauren Lafy Miranda would have never gotten an internship at LL Bean because they are not open to the public.
Keeping Connected
To make lasting connections make sure you stay in contact with people and let them know you appreciate them. Miranda always gives people thank you cards and small gifts to let them know she appreciated working with them and how much they meant to her. She also always make sure to send emails to people she have previously worked with, telling them what she is up to and working on at school. You would be surprised how much people in the industry like hearing about students.
Alternate Paths
According to Miranda, if she could change the path she has taken these past four years, she would not have become a Resident Director. She thinks that res life was a very important step in her life because it made her grow up fast, learn how to manage her time, deal with crisis, and communicate and build bonds with students. Unfortunately, she feels that her life while she was a Resident Director became so consumed with students’ needs, homework, and classes that Miranda did not have any time to do more internships or focus on what she wanted. She thinks that internships are a vital role in getting a job and becoming a successful designer. From every internship you learn new things and make new connections that lead to job offers at their companies or others. She would have liked to be graduating from Moore with more then internships at two different companies. It would have been nice while she was here to intern at Urban or Anthropologie just to gain even more experience.