Savilerow Interview

So yesterday was interview day. I was interviewed by Selom K. Amoa who's the senior designer and art director for Ozwald Boateng. Before the interview I was extremely nervous as I didn't know what to expect if anything I was prepared for quite a difficult/gruelling interview as I though they were going to be very difficult and hard to please and was starting to doubt myself and my work. The interview itself went really well Mr Amoa liked my work and thought I was a great designer, he complimented me on my designs and technical drawings and was surprised when I told him all my designs are hand drawn as apparently thats not very common anymore, he told me that this was impressive and said that I'm clearly a very 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 realised how huge it was to have such a successful person tell me that they liked my work and that i'd be perfect if I had more experience. I'm also more aware that to even get an interview with such a respectable company in the first place is massive and a great experience to learn from. 

Response from Interview

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.

The Hunt For Internships

I've recently been searching for  industry placements focusing on luxury menswear tailoring. The initial hunt for a placement has been extremely difficult especially as I haven't wanted to settle for anything less then a tailoring intern/placement. I began my search by looking at some quite high-end  tailors in Savilerow, I emailed a huge range of tailors in Savilerow as well as calling each company up personally. After not having much success I decided to print off my CV and cover letter using expensive paper and in envelopes addressed to each company I wanted to see, I then headed to Savilerow to hand each CV 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. Everyone was extremely encouraging and welcoming. I was greatly inspired by the way everyone so immaculately dressed, and extremely well presented. 

Walking into each tailors 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 or even just an interview. 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 at the prospects of an interview, I immediately went back home and started to work on creating a professional looking portfolio (shown in images above & bellow.) 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.

https://issuu.com/savannahhall/docs/portfolio_final_b4767785f5a8f2