INTERNSHIP STORIES

 Luxury Fashion Design and Production Intern My internship with Bibhu Mohapatra was a pivotal and eye-opening experience that marked the beginning of my journey in the fashion industry. I made it a daily habit to search "fashion design internship" on LinkedIn, and ensured my cover letter and resume were always ready to go. I sent out countless applications. Then, one day, I received an email from Bibhu Mohapatra. I traveled to NYC for the interview and it turned out to be an incredible experience, and I was thrilled to join his design team. Bibhu Mohapatra design focuses on upscale women's clothes, especially for Couture. They focus on weddings and various other designs in collaboration with the emerging designer. His works are praised for their sophisticated modern design, fine details, and fusion of traditional workmanship with modern aesthetics. I worked directly with the Production Manager and Creative Director, which provided me with an opportunity to collaborate clo...

Blue Light Junction is a natural dye garden and artist collective situated in Station North, Baltimore. They are committed to preserving natural dye techniques and crafts through workshops, residencies, and support of local artists. I discovered Blue Light Junction through the legacy of the Baltimore Natural Dye Initiative and various community events hosted at the space. This opportunity was secured in part due to my previous experiences in similar work environments and my eagerness to learn and benefit Blue Light Junction as a company.  During my time at Blue Light Junction, my responsibilities encompassed supporting community outreach, managing the concept store, and supporting the administrative proceedings of the center. I organized the studio’s library, drafted emails and newsletters, and helped maintain a smooth workflow. Additionally, I helped organize and market the residency exhibition showing in the fall.  I am most proud of my proposal to transform the concept stor...

 Texere Internship in Oaxaca I studied weaving at Weaver House in Philadelphia. An artist there attended the Texere internship for one week and posted to her Instagram account about her time there. Inspired by their story, I was motivated to apply. Texere is an organization located in Oaxaca Mexico that seeks to bring in artists to familiarize them with the practices of local artisans in Oaxaca. Culturally, Oaxaca is significant because of the large indigenous population of Zapotec people. The artisans of the Teotitlan, Mitla, Aztompa and Oaxaca Centro area are actively working to preserve and retain their ways of being. Texere helps to support preservation of these crafts and artisans by bringing in outsiders to familiarize them with the importance of Zapotec people and their work. My direct supervisor is the on-site coordinator for the organization. She supervises both individual and group interns and also coordinates local artisan trainings both at Texere and within the local co...

I learned about this internship through the Practice & Pie event. I was spotted by someone who told me that an employer liked my handknit sweater, who then directed me to them. She connected me with this artist after the event and I later introduced myself via email. My supervisor is a working artist who addresses and creates conversation around racism in America–with a focus on Baltimore, through craft. Many of her works are woven photography, repurposed ‘trash’ items such as plastic bags, caution tape, and more recently fruit bags. She uses various weaving techniques, hand-sewing, and other innovative joinery to create large sculptural works. My responsibilities were mainly to assist with making tests, or sketches, as she calls them. “Sketches” were like prototypes of larger works or playing around with materials. The sketches I created served as smaller models for larger projects, scalable measurements, potential joinery methods, and/or to learn about the characteristics of the ...

The DCSW (parent company of MSWS) is a leading luxury fashion show production company that specializes in innovative fashion concepts, production, and execution. Independent fashion designers present their collections to an international audience of press, retailers, stylists, industry influencers, and buyers at MSWS.  The Director of Creative Affairs for Miami Swim Week Shows (MSWS) reached out to me through LinkedIn after seeing that I directed the Benefit Fashion Show at MICA. She was my direct supervisor throughout my internship. Leading up to the show I was in charge of design and social media such as editing graphics for brands, designing booklets to be printed for the show, and planning / editing social media content. MSWS covered my flight and stay during the week of the show, where I was lead photographer for the sponsors and event. It was my first time doing commercial photography such as food, product, and events. My days were very long, every hour I would be moving to a...

  This summer I had the privilege of working with Around the World in 80 Fabrics. ATW80F is a non-profit organization centered around connecting people back to the planet through the fabrics we wear. While with ATW80F, I worked under the team Outreach Director who was also my connection for securing the internship. I had first met her at a previous internship and I was really excited when she told me about ATW80F.  My role with the organization consisted of research, project management and assistance, and graphic design work. When I started the internship, I began with natural dye research that went towards a TED Talk and pop-up event that the founders of the organization were holding. Later I was able to work with my supervisor partially in person on various small projects. Because of my prior natural dye research, I became the home base connection while the team went on a trip to Morocco to work with a small community of weavers and help them transition from synthetic dyes t...

I found out about the opportunity to intern at Blue Light Junction through word of mouth and social media. I first learned about the organization through a couple of field trips during my freshman and sophomore year. I had followed them on social media, saw them posting about having interns, and decided to apply. I contacted the founder/director of Blue Light Junction to inquire about the opportunity and after a brief interview, we determined that it would be a good fit for me and the organization. She wound up being my supervisor throughout the internship. Blue Light Junction is a community arts organization with a studio space and an annex garden for growing natural dye plants. They grow, process, and sell natural dye materials and seeds, run workshops teaching about natural dyes and occasionally other gardening and craft skills, and are beginning to work with local businesses to create naturally dyed products for display and sale. They additionally collaborate with local farmers inv...

I acquired an internship as Monique Crabb’s studio intern after approaching her at a local art gallery and asking her if she needed an intern. She was hesitant at first but eventually came around to the idea. Monique works in a variety of mediums including but not limited to natural dye, quilting, and sculpting. While working with Monique I had the chance to help lead a natural dye and eco-printing workshop, make floral arrangement sculptures, prepare natural dye vats, apply upholstery to material, sculpt with clay, and learn rug-making.  In addition to learning various practical skills during my internship, I was also exposed to the importance of networking and working collaboratively with other artists. We attended gallery events, worked with a local farm to organize a workshop, and consulted with other artists to inquire about framing. I was able to be immersed in the social network of other artists and see them talk about their practices with one another. The process of interni...

My summer internship took place in Philadelphia at FABSCRAP, a textile recycling company. FABSCRAP held a pop-up selling used fabric, trims, and notions at MICA and my professor encouraged me to go and talk to FABSCRAP’s reuse coordinator who was in charge of pop-up sales and would later become my supervisor. They mentioned FABSCRAP’s internship program and I applied for a summer position when applications opened in February. I secured an interview where I spoke about my passion for sewing my own clothes and my desire to learn more about fabric reuse, which led to me being selected for the role of summer reuse intern. My internship organization’s primary goal is to reduce textile waste from the fashion industry by sorting, recycling, and reselling over 374,000 pounds of fabric in 2022 (and over one million pounds total). FABSCRAP utilizes volunteer sorting sessions to process incoming donated fabric, and once organized, the fabric is either shipped out to be shredded and turned into “s...

My name is Elena Echenique and I am a senior Fiber major. During the Fall of 2018, I was a Dye Assistant Intern for Neighborhood Fiber Co., a company based in Baltimore, Maryland. Before the beginning of the semester, I was on the hunt for an internship to gain experience and skills in the field of fiber arts. I was exploring the Career Development website in search for opportunities when I came across the internship opening at NFC. For some time now I have had a goal to someday own my own yarn business in which I harvest, spin, and dye my own yarn, so when I came across this opportunity, I figured it would teach me some very useful skills that would help me reach my goal. The company itself is a locally based business that purchases the winded and un-dyed yarn from a nearby manufacturer and then produces its own colors through a variety of dye recipes. The yarn is then hand-dyed and sold in a single location. For this internship, I was part of the hand-dying process as an assis...

My name is Haven DeAnglis and I am a junior Fibers major with concentrations in Sustainability and Social Practice and Experimental Fashion. During the summer of 2018, I was an intern at MamerSass Reinvented Fashions in Chincoteague, Virginia. The small business focuses on reducing textile waste, and the apparel that is sold in the store is either vintage or upcycled. I learned of the internship experience after the co-owner and designer of the business, Jamey Brittingham, reached out to the Students of Sustainability club to see if we would be interested in hosting them on their college tour. I was able to bring MamerSass to campus in the spring of 2018, and Jamey gave an inspiring artist talk about starting a small, sustainable business. They also brought along the mobile shop, so students could see the upcycled clothing creations. Before Jamey and her partner Derek came to MICA, I did research on the company and learned that they offered internships. I e...

In late February this year I started to look for internships. I was considering both printmaking internships and illustration internships. I searched for pattern design studios. I found several places that have similar styles of my drawings. I sent cold emails to around five places, and Nikki Martinkovic Design Studio was the one that replied and scheduled an interview. After interview they offered me an assignment as a test, and accepted my application one week later. Kyle Naughtrip is listed as my direct supervisor. There are six interns for the summer; I and another girl from RISD are creative interns. We draw small elements on paper, and other employees in the studio transform them into patterns. As interns we did not get chance to do patterns by ourselves, but they gave us several tutorials on how they do patterns. We have freedom on what we want to draw. Every several weeks the studio would come together and discuss what kind of images they need more in t...