Elle Interview

When the opportunity arose for a placement at ELLE magazine, I felt it was a chance I couldn't miss. Lewis Cham, an ex-student from the course, offered a four week, paid placement in London. After working with Flux I really enjoyed the process of seeing a magazine develop from start to finish and thought it would be a great experience to do the same with ELLE magazine.

I sent a digital PDF of my work along with my CV and got a callback from Lewis, asking to come to the ELLE office for an interview. The interview was such short notice that I had to overhaul my portfolio and re-photograph my work in 24 hours, ready to take it down to London.

Upon meeting Lewis I felt instantly relaxed as he was very laid back and took hold of my portfolio and began flicking through it. He really engaged with my work and gave me some great feedback. I did feel however that the position wasn't quite right for me, as I got the sense that a huge interest in fashion was a main criteria, and many of my references and inspirations came from outside of fashion, as I explained I felt this was a good way to avoid repeating things that had already been done.

I felt like preparing myself for the interview and meeting Lewis was a positive experience and I learnt a lot about how to present myself, I think it can only be a good thing to show your work to as many people as possible, who may never have seen it, in order to gain confidence in presenting work and refine my presentation technique. It was really encouraging to get good feedback and even though I was unsuccessful in getting the placement, I think that the position was perfect for Phoebe Sing, who did get it, and I'm sure the experience complimented her interests and portfolio immensely, Well done Phoebe!