The funny yet puzzling note taped to two apples was the first sign that Sophia Morrison’s week in the Julie Kegels showroom at Paris Fashion Week wouldn’t be ordinary. The Fashion Futures & Foresight Strategies Master student quickly found herself sewing organza, making coffee, dressing models and racing across a city full of protests to deliver a dress to Lila Moss. Seven days, very little sleep and one laptop lost in a truck to Antwerp later, she came back with a clear lesson: in fashion, being willing to get your hands dirty counts more than any skill on paper.
Two apples sat outside the fridge with a note taped to them: “do not eat or you will die :).” Inside, the fridge was overflowing, and every now and then one would tumble out and roll away. Why apples, you may ask? The Julie Kegels SS 2027 collection was centered around gravity, a nod to Newton, and the show invitation was an apple, so every morning we restocked the decorative ones and glued stickers on each. It suited the brand somehow: a little messy, very real, creative and feminine all at once. It was also a fitting start to a week that would end with my laptop riding off in a truck, more on that later.
I spent a week with Julie Kegels’s team, from September 29 to October 6, barely a month after she won the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers. Her show had opened Paris Fashion Week the day before, on a runway covered in the same material as the viral low-crotch tights, with pigment falling from the clothes as the models walked. In the showroom, the idea came back as an installation, and we helped set it up, handling a pigment that stains any fabric forever in a room full of clothes. It was my second Paris Fashion Week, but the first as a Polimoda student. I lived in Paris earlier this year and spent all of February dodging the fashion week chaos. This time I walked straight into it.
The apples were only the start of the job description. As one of three showroom assistants, in a single week I was a seamstress, a barista, a cocktail mixer, a delivery person and a cleaner. Yes, there were many dishes. I will leave it there. I was terrified of sewing the delicate organza pieces, but we were so busy that there was no time for fear. With the prize so fresh, drop-ins multiplied and clients arriving at the same time, asking to see the same pieces over and over again, so whenever the room filled I hopped in to help dress the models. Nearly every day an agent would approach Julie: “Can so-and-so stop by? I have an opportunity with outlet X.” Every name was met with extreme focus.
The task I will remember most came on Saturday, October 3, completely spur of the moment: a dress had to get from the Marais to the 8th arrondissement so Lila Moss could wear it to the BoF gala that same night. Paris was also hosting Pride, the start of the students’ movement and even a PETA protest. As we know, the French love a good protest, so you can picture the traffic. A short ride turned into two hours. I carried a huge, heavy garment bag, full of accessories as well as the dress, and people kept asking for an ETA. “Don’t worry, we will run all of the red lights!” the cab driver joked, and I found myself praying he was serious. Thankfully, the stress paid off and Lila looked amazing in the dress. On a team this small, nobody was above any errand, least of all Julie.
She and her team were the first to arrive and the last to leave, every single day, and seeing how hard they work made me happy to help in whatever way I could. In the early morning after the BoF party, she was back at the showroom, so tired she fell asleep on a chair for a while, but she was there and the effort was felt. Every evening I tidied the kitchen before leaving, and I planned to do the same on the last day, after loading the truck with all of the showroom pieces. When I got there, it was already done. Julie had done it.
Seeing that made my own worries feel smaller. It is hard to perform tasks you know are not your forte, because you worry you are not selling yourself to the industry. But in the end, what everyone is looking for is someone willing to get their hands dirty. Showing your hard work matters more than any specific skill, and that hands-on feel is something no class could ever teach me. I also got the chance to bond with just about everyone, which was the best part, and those conversations opened my eyes to sides of fashion I had never considered before.
Many of those conversations continued after hours, because Paris is alive and ready to open its arms to you, you just have to fight the tired bones. On the day we arrived earliest, I biked past the sun rising behind Notre-Dame, a core memory for sure. I never once left the showroom in daylight and my feet were dead every night, but the city is beautiful enough to make you want to live it anyway. Say yes to the drink after work, or suggest it: the city is full of people from your industry, all in the same bars, all friends of friends, all crowding the street at café La Perle like sardines in a tin.
The week ended as it had run, laughing through the daily chaos. During packing day I knew my laptop was in the showroom, so I told myself I would grab it at the end. The end came, and where was my laptop? Find My showed it at the parking location: inside a box, deep in a truck filled to the brim. In the rush, one of the girls had packed it and sent it on its way to Antwerp. Everyone was in shock but me, I couldn’t tell you why. It came back by express, but I spent five days without a computer. Every Polimoda student will understand what that means, especially after a week with no time for school projects. I guess we are going analog! Even the first draft of this article was written with pen on paper. Like the apples, my laptop rolled away, and, luckily, someone eventually picked it up.
CREDITS
Written by
- Sophia Morrison, Master in Fashion Futures & Foresight Strategies student
Illustration by
- Rebecca Migliozzi, Creative Visual Producer and Fashion Art Direction Alumna
FASHION SCHOOL DIARIES
A column by students on life in Florence
Welcome to Fashion School Diaries, a new Journal column written by students, for students. From finding a home and starting an internship, to working showrooms, making friends, and navigating relationships, these stories are insightful, funny and sometimes touching, and until now, have remained untold.
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