Our First Technical Intern
Though we have had numerous design interns, Charlotte was our first technical intern assisting our product development team. She heard about the internship opportunity through a family member who works as one of our Account Managers, and was with us for 5 weeks. Charlotte has just finished her Fashion Design and Marketing degree at Northumbria University.
Whilst she was here she spent a great deal of her time adding new garment specifications onto our internal system, and learning more about working within a clothing industry. This was her first full time job within design and product development.
She wanted to develop skills in new areas including learning more about styles, and the practicality required in workwear garments. She finds this side of design interesting and learned about the significance of the fit and sizing of garments, as well as the importance of a garment that lasts and is more resistant to snagging and pilling than ‘fast retail’, highstreet garments.
Charlotte explained that she found the experience interesting and varied as there are lots of customers that all have different requirements and needs. She was particularly keen to learn about different company’s branding and styles and how this is portrayed in their uniform. It was useful for her to experience the different roles within our company and see the full production process of garments from the design stage to the garment being dispatched from our warehouse to the customer.
She was also part of a branch visit to gain feedback from a customer regarding their garments. This was surprising for her as she didn’t realise that they did that, as it was ‘only uniform’ (how wrong she was!). She also attended a trend meeting, where our designers gave details of upcoming trends and fashions and how that can be included in new uniform designs and ranges.
“It’s a really nice, relaxed atmosphere at ICW”
We asked her what she enjoyed during her time with us, she said it was learning about the language used to communicate back to the factories and relate information to our suppliers. She felt this would be very useful in her future career. When talking about our company specifically she explained it was nice to see how involved our senior management are with all parts of the uniform process.
Charlotte’s advice to our next intern would be to always ask for more things to do so you are always helpful and busy. Get involved in projects to learn as much as possible about the processes. Make to-do lists and have a structured plan for the tasks you are given and make sure you are able to prioritise important tasks.
