This week Girl Boss hosted a wonderful panel and networking night focused on the ever-growing fashion industry. The panelists all gave outstanding advice on how to get a foot in the door of the fashion world and truly showed the network of positive support among women in business.
THE PANELISTS
Jordan Catalana:
Jordan is the Assistant Manager of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for Kenneth Cole. She attended Fordham University where she studied Marketing, Administration, Sustainable Business, and Economics. Jordan began at Kenneth Cole in 2015 as a Corporate Citizenship Coordinator and has moved up the ranks to become an Assistant Manager where she works on social and environmental impact activities.
Katie Fabry:
Katie Fabry is a Marketing Manager at the Wall Street Journal. She attended Stonehill College where she studied Communication and Media Studies. She began her career in fashion in 2013 by interning at College Fashionista as an editorial intern. She worked her way up in the company and became the Brand Marketing Manager of the Greater New York City Area.
Audree Lopez:
Audrey Lopez is a stylist and fashion blogger based in New York City. She attended college at the University of Arizona, where she studied Journalism and Marketing. She began working at numerous publications such as Redbook and on creative projects with brands such as Marc Jacobs and Alice + Olivia. Audree is now a free-lance writer for Stylecaster.com and a stylist. She also runs her own blog called Simply Audree Kate.
Jill Breitner:
Jill is the Director of Sales and Business Development at Fashionista.com. She attended Flordia Atlantic University where she studied Communications. After college she worked in the sports and music industry, eventually leading her into the fashion industry. She's worked at publications such as Vogue and began working at Fashionista.com as Digital Account Director in 2016.
Danielle Alalu:
Danielle is the Vice President of Sales at Anthony Thomas Melillo (ATM). She graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a degree in sociology. She started her career at Nordstrom in 2004 as a retail director-designer apparel. After working for numerous brands and companies, such as Free People, she became the Vice President of sales for ATM.
Sanda Belaire:
Sanda is the is the National Retail Merchandiser for Nordstrom Pop In, Hermes Boutique, and Nordstrom x NIKE Pop In. She attended Highline College. She began working for Nordstrom in 2005 as a Department Manager. Over the years Sanda has advanced through the company and is now the acting Creative Projects Divisional Retail Merchandiser.
Do You Need a Fashion Background to Work in the Industry?
"I built a fashion club, we called it Business of Fashion, and we had about the same size as you guys [Girl Boss] and we put together fashion shows and we'd bring in industry people. I wanted to learn as much as possible outside of college because I didn't have the ability to in the classroom." - Audree Lopez
"I did a slew of internships across PR and Marketing in the sports and music world, so I was kind of immersed in the fashion space from being around those types of luminaries, but it was never really my go to thing." - Jill Breitner
"In order to support my love of shopping, I got a job at Nordstrom part-time my Junior year of college and I loved it. I was selling Women's Suits and Osmond and merchandising and I just loved it." - Danielle Alalu
Personal Style
"Statement pieces have always been my go to. I'm not incredibly fashion forward, but statement pieces help. My hair is either blue or my glasses and boots are with the trend. Whatever it is, there is always a statement piece and then I mix that with comfort." - Jordan Catalana
"I wear a lot of prints, printed pants, and primary colors. What I've found is that I spent so much time throughout college and through my entry-level work trying to figure out what really made me feel confident. So I would try to dress to be something and I would walk into an interview or a meeting and just start picking at my clothes. I really developed a sense of if I feel confident and comfortable in it, then it's worth more than any label." - Katie Fabry
"My style is a combination of thrifting, vintage, and designer pieces. I think one of the benefits of getting older is that you really don't care what people think and so it is about comfort and having confidence in your own skin." - Sanda Belaire
Fashion Icons
"If Blaire Waldorf from Gossip Girl and Debbie Harry from Blondie had a baby that was just really into Kylie Jenner; preppy, Doc Martins, and big hoop earrings." - Jordan Catalana
"It's a mix between Iris Apfel meets Leandra Medine from Man Repeller, so it's a lot of vintage maximalist pieces, kinda cooky, with a lot of color. Just a lot of fun pieces that you would look at and be like why are they wearing that?" - Audree Lopez
"I think from strictly a styling perspective, I do have one influencer who I think she does have unbelievable style and I think that she pulls it off for her body type and that she's amazing. I wouldn't say I'm the biggest fan of her platform per say, but from a strict styling perspective I think Danielle Bernstein from We Wore What has unbelievable style." - Jill Breitner
How Do You Stay Relevant?
"I subscribe to about 5 newsletters that come to my inbox every morning, I read them all on the train to work. I also read a lot of current event news because I think that impacts a lot of the work we do every single day. And on the weekends I like to dedicate and hour or two to read through all of the Business of Fashion, Fashionista, all of these publications to make sure that I'm staying up to date and I love a good podcast, Business of Fashion has a really good one." - Katie Fabry
"I would say Women's Wear, Business of Fashion, and then as the shows start happening in New York, I think that's typically the first indicator. And then by the time Paris, London, and Milan all happen I'm in Europe. So I really see a lot in Paris and London in terms of how people dress differently there and a lot of the trends are more forward thinking." - Danielle Alalu
"The Vogue Runway app is a great app, I support Nike so I always want to know when the next sneaker drop is so I'm on the Nike Sneaker app. I'm on Instagram a lot too to get visual inspiration. I am inspired by street style and going to all the different markets and just seeing what real people are wearing." - Sanda Belaire
Career Advice
"Change is inevitable, so even if in your head your like 'I will be the Editor in Chief at Vogue', be flexible. Maybe that won't work out for you and maybe Vogue won't exist in 20 years, so be flexible, there is so much power in that. There's a place in fashion for everyone if you're passionate, but passion only takes you so far, skills matter. What's the thing you're good at? Find your superpower." - Jordan Catalana
"Be nice, being nice has let me go so far in my career because no one wants to work with a mean person. You are going to deal with very amazing and great people in the industry as well as some not so great people. But even the meanest person in the office doesn't want to work with another mean person." - Audree Lopez
"If you have a brand that you are interested in, find them on Linkedln or email their info@ or find someone like us and come to panels like this and talk to us because we know a lot of people. Go to these networking events and come and talk to us afterwards, we can try and help or advise you in a specific way." - Jill Breitner
Our Business of Fashion Night left our audience with inspiration and the drive to be passionate and go after their dreams. We at Girl Boss are so thankful for our amazing panelists and are excited for more events like this in the future. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to us here at Girl Boss!
-Gabriella Boresi
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