Featured: International Bridal Week - Nicole Miller Edition

Every year designers, companies, exhibitors, buyers and customers gather in New York City for International Bridal Week. This year, the event was held April 14-16 and took over the venue at Pier 92. As an intern working for global fashion house, Nicole Miller, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend, work and enjoy the perks of Bridal Week. Nicole Miller is known for a lot of things when it comes to fashion, and bridal wear is definitely one of them--so of course there was no question that she would be at Bridal Week! Bridal market occurs twice a year here in New York and sales representatives from Nicole Miller lug in all of the up-and-coming bridal and evening-wear gowns and dresses, along with mannequins, lighting, posters, models, interns and lots and lots of Diet Coke.

Even as an intern, I had a lot of important responsibilities. First off, I needed to constantly make sure our booth looked perfect at all times. Buyers from around the country attend this event and it’s key that the brand you’re representing looks the best it can. It is all about presentation at huge events and trade shows like these, because you want to make your company and booth look special in order to draw in customers. The day I worked, there were two sales reps from the New York offices, two reps from the Philadelphia offices, two models and two interns, including myself. All of the reps had scheduled appointments throughout the day and my main task was to aid the models in trying on all of the gowns to present them to buyers and customers. Sounds like a simple task and it is, however, at times there are upwards to three or four appointments going on at once, so things get extremely hectic.

Overall though, my first experience at New York Bridal Week and at a major fashion trade show was exhilarating--and exhausting! I learned a lot though and it is really a perk to be able to see how actual business of buying such an important article of clothing goes down. It is so interesting to see how a big fashion company like Nicole Miller works, down to the nitty-gritty of being in a minuscule dressing room with four girls at once. I loved the experience and got a lot from it. It was so fun to be a part of the operations of a brand like Nicole Miller. I am looking forward to helping out with more events and trade shows during my time at Nicole Miller and have been enjoying every minute of it ever since I started back in February.

Alex is currently a sophomore at Fordham University and is a Communications and Media Studies major. Alex is completely enticed with the fashion world and living in New York City has only inspired her more to pursue a career in the fashion industry. She is greatly influenced by photographing and documenting street style and keeping tabs on the happenings of the fashion industry locally and globally.