The Row

My name is Allina Liu. I am a rising senior and a Fibers major with a concentration in Experimental Fashion. Over the summer of 2012 I was offered an internship at the prestigious fashion brand, The Row. The company was founded in 2007 by Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. Together they brought their visions of a successful company to fruition and set a new standard for celebrity lines. I applied for the internship via their website www.TheRow.com where I located an e-mail address asking interns to send their resume to. I was asked to come in for an interview shortly after. I made the commute to my home city Manhattan and met with John Sohn and Jim Robinson who would later become my employers.

When my internship started in early June, it was immediately hectic. The Row had just been nominated and (later that day) won the CFDA award for Best Womenswear Designer of the Year, the most coveted fashion design award. However, because I was new, there was very little time to train me immediately due to the amount of publicity the company was receiving. By the end of my second day, I was getting used to the office. I began to figure out where certain help was needed and who to ask. One of my biggest tasks during this internship besides sewing and helping to create garments was organizing the design library, which would be used to further research for the company’s inspiration.

My experience at The Row was invaluable. Though I had accepted an internship earlier in the year from a different designer called Nanette Lepore, I had turned it down once I received notice that The Row had accepted me. Though I was weary at first to potentially burn a bridge with a different company, I stand by my choice and firmly believe that it was the best decision for me. I learned more than I could have imagined because I was working among professionals who had a history of established names under their resume. The Row has taken my designs and visions to a different level. I was very consumed with the romantic aspects of fashion but after seeing the contemporary side of it, I am looking to expand my range. There is nothing more valuable to me than learning that your comfort zone and boundaries can be pushed.