After 30 years…no. I found that working at THE GAP was my best job, environment wise in the Industry looking back. As a print designer it was great. Then, there was a big change in management and they decided to have a non-print driven season. Laid off many people. It went downhill from there.
My first job in NYC was a small service studio. That was heaven. I went from paint mixer to design director within 1 month. 1989 I worked a full-time job during the day and freelanced at night at $50/hour. I also was paid $100/hour by some private clients.
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This is accurate. Especially difficult for women if you work in Men’s Design. There are some women who are in higher roles in Men’s, because they have been there for many years (like 20), but if you aren’t part of the inner circle, you will be made to feel that your voice isn’t important – Unless you are a young, stylish guy, then you have a chance of being noticed and respected for your opinion.
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Giii was the most sexist environment I ever worked in. A total Boys Club.
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I also interviewed and worked for Onia for a few days as a freelancer. A recruiter tried to warn me to stay away but I tried it anyway. By far the most unprofessional place I have worked at and that is saying something.
I had to fight to get paid, nightmare.
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Im so sorry about that. They are by far the shadiest company I have worked for! I hope you are at a better place now.
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Worse than a “Boys Club”. It’s a “Garmento Club”.
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The Oved Group - takes advantage of employees: no bonus, 70 hour work weeks, de incentivizing tactics, horrendous cramped workspaces and more.
Well from what I understand they fired almost the whole office at the start of quarantine.
I had a friend who fit modeled for AG and she said it was a REALLY weird work environment. They made a pregnant woman taking fit notes stand for the entire fitting week after week even as she grew obviously uncomfortable.
I see several comments about “aging out” of the industry. I’m curious - do you feel this is true for designers, buyers, merchandisers or people in every role? I’m asking because many of the buyers I have worked with are well over 45/50. Creative Directors and VP/Presidents of Design are usually older as well.
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It’s been my observation, “aging out” can definitely vary, depending upon the company culture, depending if you’re somehow in the “inner-circle” (family or friends, same religion, or if you’re in the “pretty people club”) and even the role. I’ve worked in both corporate retail and the wholesale end. Here are a few of my observations:
Departments/positions typically not aged out:
-Buying, Planning, Operations, Finance, Accounting, Marketing, Customer Service, Production,
Departments/Positions often aged out (particularly if you aren’t Director or VP level):
Design, Merchandising, Product Development. Technical Design can go either way. I’ve seen a company fire a Latina technical designer in her 50s, only to strictly hire White women in their 20s…and when these White women either quit or can’t handle the workload, WHO did the company REPEATEDLY bring back on contract basis to pick up the pieces?? The SAME Latina woman. Companies need to VALUE the people who can get the work done, regardless of age, ethnicity, or whether they think someone is “their standard of pretty!”
Again…things can vary. I’ve worked at companies that have had anywhere from 35 to 500 employees at the corporate office. While I have worked with a design director who was in his late 40s…I think he got pushed out in his middle 50s, I don’t think I have ever worked with someone who had the titles senior merchandiser/manager, or senior designer/manager who was over 45…even though these types of roles can pay anywhere from $70K to 120K. For anyone reading this…how many of you have seen a designer over 50 y/o…I’ve only seen 1 situation so far and he was freelance…he was kind of treated like crap. I have seen a woman in her middle 50s whose title was senior merchandiser…but she was the sales person as well (it was for private label accounts).
Sad but true, but I also think different people get aged out according to their physical appearance. How we age is based upon genetics, our health status, amount of sun exposure/damage (in theory, tanning makes people look “youthful” but I’ve been around many people who did it to the point where they easily look 5 to 10 years OLDER than what they are…but they don’t realize it), and how we keep our weight properly in check. And unfortunately, women and ethnic minorities are scrutinized to a higher degree. I’ve had conversations with my Latina and Black friends who have actually said “being overweight is actually an occupational hazard”! It’s already often harder for them to get in the fashion industry, let alone paid equally to their white counterparts…walking into an interview being a size 10 or larger isn’t going to do them any favors. Even some of my White female friends who happened to put on weight have experienced this. Notice how it’s not uncommon to see women in certain positions who are never or rarely above a size 6…despite the fact the average woman in the US wears a size 12 to 16?? I’ve worked at companies where I as a size 6 to 8 was “the fat one” at 5’8". How often have you seen a designer or merchandiser who is a size 14? I’ve only seen one merchandiser throughout my career who was a size 14/16…and conveniently, she was highly underpaid. Sad but true. Yet you will ABSOLUTELY see women in customer service, accounts payable/receivable who are over a size 8 or even plus sized…not a coincidence. And my observation is corporate retail is often a little more forgiving in terms of looks, weight, and age in comparison to the wholesale fashion companies.
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This is a fact and my friends who are still there say it’s getting worse…
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Listen to @Needleninja you will leave there with a bitter taste in your mouth and I was lucky to be on one of the better teams but witnessed so much mental abuse. Plus they aren’t the best at what they do any how…
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Aritzia … not sure if anyone mentioned
It Yet… but people broke down and cried at their desks everyday. Brian Hill is a horrible and fired people at Whim. They had stupid rules like you couldn’t use post it notes or hang your jacket on the back of you chair. They are in Vancouver but if they call you run fast … in the opposite direction.
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Surprised no one has mentioned Anne Klein. Horrible experience, they want you to just shut up and be a cog in the machine. As a long term employee told me, “Check your brain at the door”. The “designer” had his flavor of the month and made it known to everyone. The level of pattern work was not in any way complex, but they would tweak existing styles over and over and over and then end up going back to a previous version because they ran out of lead time for production. I offered multiple ways to streamline things, but was told even though they all made logical sense, “that’s not how we do things here”.
They are constantly trying out patternmakers for Anne Klein/Nine West. In 5 years they had over 25 patternmakers, and that’s not including those who only came in for a trial.
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GIII, that’s all I will say.
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Ezra Dabah (form Childrens Place, RUUM, curr. KidPik? Nina Shoes…) and his “muse” Francesca Sorrenti (yes, that (!) Sorrenti) are other wordly. Besides an incredibly toxic family run environment where Judaism wins (they are Orthodox) and anything else simply does not exist… Sorrenti has physically and verbally abused everyone from children/teens she has photographed: called them “fat” and “you look ugly today” amongst other horribly abusive things to how she treats the staff because she leverages her family name and her connections that both Ezra and wife Renee are suckered into being blinded by. I consulted very briefly (hired by the Nina Shoes Pres form. Hugo Boss who is amazing… no longer their, surprise?) and in an interview FS said “I’m the bitch, do everything I say, never what I do and she’s the angel. Once you know that’s how things work around here you’ll do fine.” This was a 24 YO social media interviewee and I almost died… I handled things naturally but when I told Dabahs about this they laughed and said “that’s just Francesca…”
Gross.
Vera Wang
SAKS
Vogue
old Victoria’s Secret (new regime seems mildly better from sound of friends but still some S/VPs lingering that are … well, gross.)
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Dang…that is so sad to hear, thought Canadian company might better than US…
Also one of the companies I want to work if I have a chance…
I personally heard about Ninewest how bad it is from formal coworker who worked there for a long time…
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Which division? I tried to navigate which division is never mentioned, since I’m from one of the bad ones too lol