New York - Trade Shows, Selling Designs, Networking, Interviews, Trend Lectures and Tourism

PrintSource and Indigo New York
I am recently home from a 5 day trip to New York. As previously stated the purpose of the visit was to exhibit and work a trade stand at PrintSource. This proved to be a great experience. I was able to learn about the process of setting up a display for a trade stand (alot harder than it looks), liaising with clients, networking with studio's, handing out my business cards, etc. It proved to be a very valuable insight into this side of the industry, which will definitely help me in my future career. In addition to PrintSource, Indigo New York was also taking place at the same time. You may remember that I have exhibited and attended Indigo Paris on 2 occasions, so it was fantastic to experience this trade show in a different country. Indigo New York was completely different to the show in Paris, but many of the exhibitors were the same, so it was good to network with the exhibitors again.

Selling My Designs
I am thrilled to say that I sold one of my fashion samples. As I have signed my design over to the clients I am not going to indulge in any information regarding which design it was or who it sold to, but it was purchased by a large retailer. This feels like the icing on the cake after studying for my degree for 3 years, as PrintSource was my final chance to exhibit at a trade show before graduating.

Internship Interview
Whilst in New York I had arranged an interview with a major fashion designer who shows at New York Fashion Week. I could have had a phone interview 6 weeks ago, but as I was in the city I felt it would be good to arrange a face to face interview. This interview went very well and I have been offered and accepted the opportunity to intern at the studio in Manhattan. More on this and other exciting internship news to follow on a later blog post.

Trend Lectures
As an exhibitor at PrintSource I was permitted to attend trend lectures by the worlds leading trend companies, free of charge. There were plenty of lectures to choose from, ranging from womenswear, menswear, children and home. I attended a great seminar by Carlin International. The 5 highlighted trends were brilliantly explained and I made sure I took detailed notes and collected leaflets. I gained alot of inspiration for my future fashion print designs.

Phillippa x