How It All Begins...

So, here's the deal- My aunt- Kinda a big deal in the fashion industry. She's the CMO of Iconix Brand Group, Inc. Iconix's brands are currently; Candie's, Bongo, Rampage, Starter, Op, Joe Boxer, Mudd, Mossimo, London Fog, Danskin, Rocawear, Cannon, Fieldcrest, Charisma, Royal Velvet, Waverly and Ed Hardy. Not only is she the CMO, she's probably the hottest CMO out of all corporations across America. She's allowed me to be exposed to her world from a very young age. I've been a behind-the-scenes Candie's girl the majority of my life, which eventually led to me knowing what industry I would like to be in at a younger age than most. From being a shy little peanut on set with Jenny McCarthy on the toilet, Dixie Chicks spilling burgers in the back of a limo, and Carmen Electra spraying perfume into Dennis Rodman's pants, to being part of the staff in the most recent Britney Spears' ads.

I just graduated from high school with the class of 2009 in Los Angeles, California. After a month and a half, I left my immediate family and my best friends behind to pursue my passion to work a paid internship for 6 weeks at Iconix in New York. I'll be here to give you guys the good, the great, the bad, and the ugly of the fashion world as you probably don't know it.

Day 1:

I woke up at seven o'clock, out of the house by eight to make it to the bagel shop by roughly 8:10, where the owner is blatantly infatuated with my aunt and has her decaf hazelnut coffee ready in 2.5 seconds. After two minutes we push off and get to the bus where our driver, Igor, is smoking a cigarette while waiting for us to arrive. We hop on the bus and grab the two front rows because they are the only seats that have cup holders. Igor's mix of body odor and cigarette scent is a pleasure to inhale while consuming breakfast. It's about an hour before we get dropped off in the city, a block away from the office. An elevator up to the 8th floor where my aunt's office is located with a perfect view of Time Square. You know that ball that everyone watches drop on New Years Eve all around the world? Yeah, my aunt sees that every day from her office window. Not even 10 o'clock and a package from Lucky Magazine is on her desk. A magazine and a pack of Twizzlers. Okay, seriously? Our recession has come to a point where a "please do business with me" gift is Twizzlers? Sad story.

Tara, who works for PR at Iconix assigns me my first intern project. I am handed a book with studio contacts for shows such as Medium, Private Practice, Samantha Who?, Entourage, Criminal Minds, etc. My task is to call each of them, get in touch with their wardrobe department, and receive an e-mail or address to which we can send a look book in the hopes that these shows will want to use our product to dress their actors. Each place that I called either had shows that were cancelled, had their own costume supply, or rented out. In the midst of this assignment I found out that Entourage (which just started it's new season) has stopped filming for the rest of the year and will continue to film in 2010-- so bummed!

My last task of the day was to get a bandana and cowboy hat for my 12 year old cousin. Do you know how hard it is to find a an effing cowboy hat these days? I'll tell you... it's hard. I wound up finding a cowboy hat in the third Claire's that I walked into. And where was this Claire's? Right across the street from the offices. I figured after searching high and low that my cousin could cut the girlish embellishments off and deal. -- I returned to the office only to fall asleep curled up in a chair in my aunts office mid conversation at 6pm.

At 8 o'clock, we walk across the street, enter a lobby, and go up to the 35th floor. Rocawear's 10th year of marketing celebration. The pictures displayed all around the floor are absolutely phenomenal. The picture that stuck with me the most was a picture of Jay-Z walking, surrounded by tons of kids in Africa looking so happy!-- simply gave anyone with a heart the chills. Another touch of the party was CEO of Iconix, Neil Cole. Neil is also the person who gave me this luxurious opportunity. Not gonna lie, I used to be very afraid of the big man. Hello-- CEO = Lots of power = A little scary. As they should be. When in conversation about when Jay would arrive, his casual comment was, "Let me text him and find out when he's coming." Oh. Okay-- Do that and I'll just give Beyonce a ring. Sean Carter (Jay-Z) for those of you who didn't know that was his real name, texted Mr. Cole back telling him he would come after finishing the last song necessary to complete his newest album, coming out September 11th!

Pretty sweet, don't you think? This isn't even the half of it yet. Hopefully I can leak some secrets to you guys soon about the next chosen talent for Iconix's brands... Kind of like how we accidentally slipped that Giselle is pregnant and her baby bump was photo shopped out of the new London Fog ads. Oops!

Until next time!

XXO- Fashionieceta.