Design Enterprise and Innovation

Before starting this unit I had desperately been searching for an industry placement focusing mainly on luxury menswear tailoring. The initial hunt for a placement was extremely difficult especially as I didn't want to settle for anything less then something to do with tailoring. I began my search by looking at quite high/ very well known tailors in Savilerow, I emailed a huge range of tailors in Savilerow as well as calling each company up. After not having much success I decided to print off my CV and cover letter on nice paper and in envelopes addressed to each company I wanted to see, I then headed off to Savilerow to hand each envelope out personally the experience was great as I got to see what the environment, the standard and the people were like in Savilerow as well as getting to speak to a lot of tailors personally which for me was one of the best experiences as everyone was very encouraging and welcoming. 

Walking into each tailors when in London was at first very intimidating, however after plucking up the courage to go into several different companies such as Gieves and Hawkes, Welsh and Jefferies, Cad & The Dandy, Ozwald Boateng (just to name a few,) I began to feel more confident and sure of myself. While handing my CV and cover letters out I went into Oswald Boateng's shop as one last quick attempt to get a placement, while I was there a women called Nadine asked me a few questions about where I study, what I do etc she briefly spoke about the company before offering me an interview for the following week (Thursday 11th of February.) I was over the moon and immediately went back home and started to work on creating a professional looking portfolio (shown in image above.) I uploaded my portfolio on Issue and printed an A3 hard copy using nice paper and the best folder I could find to present it in. 

During the interview I spoke to Selom K Amoa who is the senior Design and Art Director for the company. The interview went well as he really liked my work and thought I was a great designer, he complimented me on my designs and technical drawings, he asked whether all my drawings/designs were hand drawn and when I said yes he told me that this was impressive and that not many people hand draw designs anymore and that I am clearly a good drawer. Overall the interview was a huge success and Mr Amoa said that my CV and portfolio were perfect except for one thing, and this is experience he continued and said if I had more experience I would have been perfect. Initially I felt slightly disappointed however after having time to reflect on the process I released how huge it was to have such a successful person tell me that they liked my work and that it was good I now realise that to even get an interview with such a respectable company in the first place. 

Example of one of the emails I sent out

After my interview Selom emailed me with some links to books and websites that would help me learn more about tailoring which was really nice. The whole process has been a great learning curve and an enjoyable experience that reminded me how much I would love to get into tailoring.
https://issuu.com/savannahhall/docs/portfolio_final_b4767785f5a8f2