My Experience at Teen Vogue Fashion U

For the young, budding fashionistas in all of us, Teen Vogue is the epicenter of style and career inspiration. Everyone dreams of the chance to work with Amy Astley, the founding editor of the mag, and her team. My dreams of getting to work with the famous magazine came true two weekends ago when I had the opportunity to attend Teen Vogue Fashion U in New York City.

Teen Vogue Fashion U is a program that Teen Vogue has been putting on for the past few years to give young people aspiring to make it in the fashion industry the inside scoop. The students attended seminars with some of the industry’s “fashion celebrities” like Alexa Chung, the Teen Vogue editors, Eddie Borgo, designers from Express, Vogue editors and more. All of the students also had the opportunity to attend special private shopping events with Express and Topshop, during which we got to schmooze with some of these fashion celebs. I had the opportunity to meet and network with a few of these people and am going to share a few things I took away from this amazing weekend.

Always be genuine

Our opening seminar of the weekend was with Amy Astley and her team of editors from the magazine. They all shared their stories of how they got to the jobs they have, which was really amazing to hear. What they all reiterated more than anything else was being a nice, genuine person. You aren’t going to get anywhere with an awful attitude and it won’t get you remembered or referred to anyone. Fashionistas like the editors of Teen Vogue want to work with people who are upbeat and easy to work with.

Networking is key, especially in this industry

When I went to see Eddie Borgo, an amazing jewelry designer that you should look into if you don’t know him, he stressed networking a bit. He told us that one of his current interns was a student at Teen Vogue Fashion U in previous years and, after his seminar, she approached him and introduced herself. She told him that if he was looking for any help with an upcoming event he was having in Boston, she would be able to help. Eddie and his team remembered this girl and contacted her when they went to Boston. Now she is an intern for Eddie and his growing team. They remembered her because of her perseverance and attitude when she introduced herself. You never know when an opportunity for networking will come up, so you have to take advantage of everything that you can and make the best of it.

Do anything you can to get your name out there

I had the opportunity to talk to Jason Wagenhiem, the VP and Publisher of Teen Vogue. I shared with him the career goals I have within the industry and he told me to get involved with whatever I could in any way possible. He loved the fact that I am a writer for Her Campus and said that is a great résumé booster! Taking any opportunity you can to make your mark can apply to any job market, not just those of us taking the path to working in fashion.

Those are just a few of the many things that I learned during that fashionable weekend in New York City. I’m so grateful that I was chosen to be a student and look forward to applying again next year. If you are looking to break into this wonderful world of fashion, I encourage you to look into Teen Vogue Fashion U.

Photo Source: Julie Bastulli