Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
URBN 496
Dr. Christa Tooley
12/11/2015
Chicago. I left feeling extremely grateful for the ways that it expanded my learning
both of the fashion industry and company itself, and in the intersection between academic
studies and my own experience. This paper will attempt to summarize some of that
path to follow. Practically, I learned more about specific positions and companies within
the fashion industry that would interest me in the future. This occurred through
to various company initiatives and communications, and research that I completed as part
internship site provided me with information and resources for pursuing summer 2016
exceeded expectations in several ways. First of all, I was surprised and excited to be
chosen for the position from a competitive pool of applicants. This was a welcome form
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of affirmation and boost in my personal confidence that will be beneficial in future job
applications and interviews. However, my studies in race and socioeconomic issues also
serve as a reminder that I am able to operationalize and achieve my personal goals largely
because of the privilege that I have been born with and accrued over time. My education,
social networks, and racial and economic background have all served to propel me into a
position from which an internship at a luxury fashion company would even be within my
personal agency and competency and the forces of privilege that make the actualization
In regards to social efficacy, I felt like my experience was somewhat limited due
to my position at the lowest end of the staff hierarchy. I wasnt able to take an explicit
this served as additional motivation to let my example and work function as a mobilizing
factor in the larger group. I probably learned the most in this area from observing my
supervisor and the way that she behaved in her managerial role. Like anyone, she didnt
do everything perfectly, but overall I was very impressed and even inspired by the way
she led. She was able to balance a sense of command, respect, and urgency without
compromising kindness and an attitude of service towards her staff. No task or project
was ever beneath her, and this mindset trickled down among the group, placing
I found that the need to achieve common goals and purposes in a group was
especially essential in bridal retail. From start to finish, the entire sales, production, and
alterations experience involved a massive team effort demanding that each person be able
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to see the whole picture and the smallest details. From retail sales and company branding
to creative direction and marketing, everything was interconnected. Every decision and
result was carefully scrutinized and evaluated, and it was fascinating to see how even the
throughout this semester was, how do I reconcile my passions and gifts in fashion with
the deep sense of duty and compassion I feel towards those affected by racial and
socioeconomic injustice?
I was surprised to find that, more than anything, this semester confirmed the sense
of calling I feel to enter the fashion industry. Equipped with a renewed understanding and
Race, Poverty, and Reconciliation class, I was able to see people working at all levels of
society with shared goals for social justice. Seeing people working from positions of
power and influenceand leveraging that power on behalf of vulnerable people and
determination I feel to succeed in my career, so that I might someday have a platform and
position from which to advocate for and amplify the voices of the people who are largely
A few practical issues that I became aware of include the underrepresentation and
misrepresentation of certain minority groups in the fashion industry. While minorities are
certainly present in the fashion industryin the sense that they are disproportionately
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affected by the unfair wages and labor conditions by which much of the capitalist system
In reading The New Jim Crow for Race, Poverty, and Reconciliation, we learned
that racism is adaptableit transforms as society changes, taking on new rules, language,
and rhetoric that functionally maintain the same effects as those perpetuated by the more
overt discrimination and laws of earlier generations. I believe that the fashion industry is
skills, and purchasing power of the wealthy, white majority and selectively affirming
those of very specific minority groups, while largely ignoring, silencing, and
over the course of this semester. True racial reconciliation and socioeconomic justice will
never be possible until all spheres of human life are penetrated by truth and justice.
Justice must become a way of listening, speaking, working, and living. The fashion
industry is one place where I can begin. As a Christian with a voice in the majority, I
have the responsibility to help educate, inform, and influence others like me to
understand what I have been able to see this semester. Minority groups shouldnt have to
keep trying to make their voices be heard amongst an ignorant, stubborn majority. I can
(and must) use my privilege to help their stories be listened to, to amplify their voices,
and to speak truth to the powers among which I function on a daily basis.