MANILA, Philippines - It has been a memorable 10 days of summer for 14 budding fashion retail pundits.
When Robinsons Store Specialists, Inc. announced their 2011 summer internship program early last March through Facebook and mass emails sent to their customer data base, fashion-minded students heeded the call. “We asked them to send in their names, ages, schools, their courses, and a photo of them wearing an outfit from one of our brands,” says RSSI marketing services manager Teresa David. “We received hundreds and hundreds of applications.” That is no surprise, of course, given the popularity of the RSSI brands for their fast fashion. The target markets of Topshop, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, and Trucco may have distinct variations from each other but collectively, these brands are reliable sources for clothing that reflects the British high street style.
After interviews and a week-long deliberation of the 40 initial candidates, RSSI found their final 14: Randz Manucom, Akiko Sumulong, Jessica Choy, Meghan Chuahiock, Zam Bautista, Noelle Lee, Charlene Cruz, Gisella Velasco, Jeanine Tsoi, Tin Iglesias, Lorenz Namalata, Wency Ang, Kalleen Araneta, and Reichelle Carlos. Coming from different schools, the interns’ ages range from 17 to 21; two of them are still in high school. “Not all of them are studying fashion-oriented courses as you would expect,” David remarks. Some are taking up management, accountancy, legal management, and clothing technology; Charlene Cruz, in fact, is a biology major from Ateneo de Manila University. Thus, with a diverse group of people, the RSSI’s League of Fashion 2011 was formed.
Day One for the interns was last April 4, when they learned about customer relations, styling, merchandise display, and all the nitty gritty details of the fashion retail business. In the succeeding eight days, they put their learning into practice, working four-hour shifts on the store floor. David says, “The program management took care to assign only one intern per store branch.” The interns were also rotated among the different brands to help them become more familiar with the particular branding and the selling points of each RSSI brand. “It’s important for them to know firsthand what happens in the back office and on the sales floor — to be the ones refolding and rearranging clothing items and the display instead of being the customer. The program definitely gave them a comprehensive fashion retail experience.”
The interns were judged by the store managers according to the following criteria: customer service, retail standards, competitive analysis (the interns’ understanding of each different brand as well as other competing brands), store walkthroughs with the managers, uniforms (printed black shirts that they have to style on their own), mannequin styling, attitude (which includes responsibility, commitment, and teamwork), sales, and a fashion show that was held last April 15, the last day of the internship. The interns were given the challenge to style themselves for the show only two days before the event. A second challenge was given just moments before the show began, which was to pick another look for their second turn at the runway. The show was held at Greenbelt 3.
While a fashion retail experience with RSSI was itself the prize for these kids, those who performed extraordinarily well were given special recognition during the fashion show. Akiko Sumulong won The Next Digital Diva Award, a distinction determined through the number of Facebook likes that her first runway look garnered online. Randz Manucom won The Next Sartorialist Award for his work in visual merchandising and mannequin styling, as well as The Next Luminary Award for his winning personality around both customers and the staff. A special award sponsored by Candy magazine was given to Gisella Velasco, The Next Runway Star, for her performance on the catwalk and fashion challenge. High school student Jeanine Tsoi was named The Next Retail Tycoon for the high sales figure she brought in during her internship, the staggering amount of P212,781. The overall winner who garnered the highest average score from all criteria was Meghan Chuahiock, whose sales figures weren’t far behind from Tsoi’s, reaching an estimate of P208,000.
David says that RSSI was pleasantly surprised by the impressive performances of the interns. “Certainly, we didn’t expect their sales to reach that much, given that they only had eight days to sell. But they were really into the internship program and we’re glad that they got to learn the less glamorous aspects of fashion retail. This training was a commitment for them, because it was important to complete the program and not have absences as much as possible; for unavoidable absences, they had to compensate with extra shifts, much like what people do in real jobs.”
On their part, the interns were happy to have had the chance to work with top fashion brands. “I [had wanted] to work for and be part of some of the biggest fashion boutiques here in the Philippines,” says Zam Bautista. Jessica Choy adds, “I learned about the art of selling and the importance of good customer service, and I gained valuable understanding of the in-store operations as well”— lessons that anyone who wants to get into the fashion business would be better off realizing.