How I Landed My First Job in Paris, the Fashion Capital

A BOLD PERSON HAS HALF THE WORLD

Sometimes people ask me how I ever got started in fashion. Then I recount everything I’ve done, starting from the end. I’ve done plenty in fashion, but there’s one story in particular that always has people hanging on my every word. It was my first job interview after graduating from art school. I’ve put it down on paper so you, too, can enjoy my emotional rollercoaster during that time. Because this little lady was set on working in Paris....

EVERYONE IS WAITING FOR YOU…

23 years old, fresh out of school. This lady (that’s me) thought she’d just go work in Paris for a bit. After all, you’ve graduated… so anything is possible.

everyone is waiting for you,
the world is at your feet.
Get in the car and everything will be fine.
Or something like that, yeah…

After I received my diploma from art school, I wanted to—and was determined to—work in Paris. I could always go back to the Netherlands later, right? My dear mother even said, “Why don’t you try the Netherlands first?” But no, stubborn as I “was,” I set off for Paris with a friend. In my little white Fiat 500, down the highway toward Antwerp, Lille, and on to Paris.

Luckily, I was able to stay with some acquaintances from art school, because I didn’t have much money right after graduating. That place to sleep was really the only thing I’d arranged; I’d figure out the rest once I got there.

BIENVENUE À PARIS, NOT

Once I arrived in Paris, I started by looking around. Which companies did I actually want to work for? After all, why would you plan that in advance… ahem. But to be honest, there was one place specifically that I had set my mind upon. That was TREND UNION.

This company specializes in forecasts—the future. They predict what we’ll be wearing in two to three years or how we’ll be living. Or whether we’ll even be driving cars in 10 years. And yes, big companies pay a lot of money for that. These aren’t just random predictions, but ones based on experience and logical developments. Okay, let’s see… a simple example… the era of fast fashion is on the decline, so we’re now going to appreciate the garment itself more. A logical consequence, right?

There are several companies like this around the world, but I wanted to work at TREND UNION—a particularly wonderful forecasting firm in Paris, led by a Dutch woman, Lidewij Edelkoort.

The chance that I’d actually get a job there was, of course, slim to none (or so I thought). But luckily, there were other trend forecasting studios in Paris, so I threw myself into writing application letters.

Anyway, I carefully gathered all the addresses and wrote the letters (email didn’t exist yet). I dropped them in the mail and waited. But then comes the question… how long are you going to wait? Patience isn’t my strong suit when it comes to this sort of thing, so after two days I decided to give these places a call.
Pffff… I don’t know if it was because of my thick Breton accent ;-) or something, but the Parisians weren’t exactly friendly on the phone. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.
Bienvenue à Paris, not!

NOW WHAT?

Calling didn’t get me anywhere. So now what?
Go back home?
I couldn’t very well go back to the Netherlands and tell my mom it hadn’t worked out. (That was my own pride getting in the way.)
So…#$%@$ …it, I’m not going to wait forever.

I’M JUST GOING TO DROP BY. 

ARE YOU FROM THE NETHERLANDS?

The next morning, I set out. I thought, I’ll just give it a shot. You will miss 100% of the shots you don’t take, after all. So I made a list and off I went. Number 1 on the list was, of course, TREND UNION. Looked up the address and hopped on the metro. I arrived at a sort of small, trendy warehouse right in the middle of Paris. It turned out later that the outside of the warehouse is painted a different colour every year—from green to pink and even gold. Really cool!

I walked in without an appointment. When I entered, there was no reception area. You basically stepped right into the middle of a trendy industrial loft. Well, there I was.

Eventually, someone approached me and asked what I was there for. In my best French, I explained that I’d come to show my work.

“Are you from the Netherlands?” I suddenly heard someone call out something in Dutch from the other side of the warehouse. It was Lidewij Edelkoort, the Dutch owner of the company.

“Yes,” I stammered.
“What are you here for?” Her tone wasn’t very friendly.
“To show my work,” I stammered again.

Keep in mind, this conversation was flying back and forth across the warehouse.

“Then you have to send a letter first!” Her tone became even less friendly. #OMG
“Uh, yeah, I did that, but I didn’t get a response.”
My heart (maybe even the whole warehouse) sank into my shoes, and I slowly started to get the feeling that this might not have been such a good idea after all.
And then it went silent…

Those few seconds seemed to last forever.

“Okay, I’ll go find someone,” Lidewij finally called out. Huh, was I allowed to stay?

I was still frozen in place, but did she just say she was going to find someone?

I politely stayed put and waited.
“You can sit down if you want!” she called from the other side of the warehouse.
Phew… Can you even imagine how awkward I felt? :-(

I sat down and waited. Eventually, a French woman came over to me and introduced herself. She didn’t understand that she was supposed to look at my work and that I should have made an appointment.
Believe me, this was the last straw—the moment I’d really had enough and wanted to leave. Gosh, this was turning into such a drama.

But the unbelievable happened. The tide turned 180 degrees.
She went on to say, “You’ve put so much time into your work, and I want to take the time to look at it, but I don’t really have that right now.” This French woman was actually very friendly; she really wanted to make time for me.

I was offered a glass of water, and together we looked through my portfolio. After about four pages, she was apparently impressed because she called someone else over.
That person looked at it too.
Then someone else was called over.
And then another…
and another…
In the end, there were more than 10 people looking at my work. Wow, I felt myself getting a little bigger again. 

TOUCH DOWN

Eventually, someone asked me if I wanted to do an internship. I replied that I wanted a job, not another internship. At the end of the conversation, the sweet Frenchwoman told me she was going to see if there was a budget. She asked if she could call me that evening? Of course!

I went outside and stood around the corner for a moment to catch my breath. Because what an emotional rollercoaster that was. That evening, she did indeed call me. There was funding, and I could start the very next day at TREND UNION. Unbelievable, right? I was so happy! My first job in the creative industry, in Paris, at the company I’d been dying to work for. YEAHHH!

It wasn’t until the coffee break the next day that I called my mom with the news. Of course, she was over the moon and so proud. I really wanted to be on the job before I told anyone else the news.

And during our group lunch, Lidewij saw me sitting at the end of the table.
“Weren’t you here yesterday?”
“Yes,” I said, with a smile from ear to ear.

In the end, I stayed for a few months. The job interview, the work, and living in Paris were incredibly fun experiences and a great learning experience.
But what was already there back then—and I didn’t realize it at the time—is that I’m a go-getter when I really want something. I sometimes tell my kids, “A bold person has half the world”(and by “bold,”I mean in a positive sense). Sometimes you just have to persevere, step outside your comfort zone, and think outside the box.

Love, Nicole