^{_{DAY 1: Model Casting and a dream becoming reality}}

My internship began at 11 a.m. on Sunday, February 6. I walked 45 minutes from my apartment in the Lower East side all the way to the Flying Solo office in SoHo. The first day was all about finding “the look,” aka model casting day. 

From the start, there were over 300 models lined up outside in snowy weather and waiting for their turn to show the executives what they could bring to the runway. 

Within the first five minutes of arriving and meeting the Flying Solo team, I was tasked with running to the nearest store to grab large packs of sharpies for the model forms, printing about 700 model forms and making sure the line was organized all before the first casting call. 

In other words, it was mayhem, but in my words, it was fashion week. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., I took every model’s headshot, filmed their runway walk and sorted the "yes" pile, "no" pile and "final decision" pile.

At the end of the day, I was given my schedule for the week, and it went a little like this…

^{_{DAY 2: Showroom Maintenance and Icons}}

Monday was all about organizing the showroom and completing pulls and returns. Flying Solo offers clients and creatives the opportunity to pull clothing and accessories from their showroom for any projects or photoshoots they might have. 

When working in the showroom, I had to make sure all of the clothing, shoes and accessories were color-coded and neatly placed on the racks and shelves. When a client came in to take a pull, I documented the garment or piece into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet with the designer’s brand name, the color, the type of item and a distinction about the item's material. One of the creatives I pulled for was Natasha Bird, Elle Magazine’s Executive Digital Editor, who is a true icon in everything editorial fashion to me. 

^{_{DAY 5: Fittings and Fabulous Fanatics}}

_{8 a.m.: Arrive at Flying Solo and meet the new Parsons and NYU student interns}

_{8:45 a.m.: Get paired with designers and brands for the day} 

Every intern's day and schedule looked a little different, because some were paired with only one designer while others were paired with several. I was paired with two jewelry brands: Trend Jewelry and CW Jewels (Instagram handles: @trendjewelry_handmadedesigns and @cw_jewels). 

The whole day was sectioned off into time blocks from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Although most interns were set in a time frame, being paired with jewelry brands meant that I was going to be on-call with designers and models from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

When a designer approached me to use a piece, I would contact the jewelry designer I was working with and show them which piece was being used, how it was styled and see if they wanted to make any changes. Once each designer liked the look we created, I sought final approval from one of the two head stylists at Flying Solo. Once each look was approved, the models headed to the shoot room to get photographed holding a name card with the brand they were wearing and any other collaborating accessory brands. In addition to the styling, photographing and collaborating, this day was full of networking with designers, models and other interns. 

^{_{DAY 7: On the Runway}}

The minute you blink, it's over. Although a long, 14-hour day on your feet spent tirelessly working and shoving any food you can find down your throat when you get a chance seems miserable, it was quite the opposite.

On Flying Solo’s show day, interns were put at different stations throughout the three story building in the middle of SoHo, New York. The stations included greeting & elevators, press floor, backstage and show photographers/live streamers.