Design Disaster

by Margaret Gurevich

  “No time for hellos,” Laura says as soon as she sees me. “Lots to do today.” She rushes into her office, motioning for me to follow. I trail after her and notice all the new samples of collars she’s created on top of her desk.

  “I’ve been adding designs all week,” Laura continues, “and I think we’re good to go. Today we’re working on knit skirts and dresses. Also part of Stefan’s new art deco addition to Fashion Week.”

  “Sounds good,” I say as Laura rummages through her desk. All the while, she’s muttering about not having enough time to do anything.

  Stress fills the room, and I have a sudden urge to swat at the air around me so her anxiety doesn’t latch onto me. I don’t need more. Since my internship started, I’ve felt like Laura on many days, but I’d never voice it. How can I be anything but one hundred percent excited and grateful about this opportunity? I mean, what high school student gets to intern in New York City — and for a famous designer at that?

  I feel so lucky, but I’m also starting to miss home. I miss hearing about my best friend Alex’s life and gossip. I miss kicking back and scarfing down junk food while watching bad television. I miss my parents. I miss —

  “Chloe!” Laura’s exasperated voice brings me back.

  “Sorry,” I say.

  She waves her hand dismissively. “No time for that, either. Just focus, please.” She pauses. “I’m sorry. It’s easy to forget how young you are. I bet all this can be a lot sometimes.”

  I’m so grateful she gets it, but I don’t want to admit there’s something I can’t handle. Still, I trust Laura. “Sometimes,” I admit quietly. “Not that I don’t love it here,” I quickly add.

  Laura smiles. “It can be a lot for me too, and I’ve been doing this for years! Plus, I’m getting paid. Don’t worry. You’re doing great.”

  I feel a little better — definitely more relieved. It’s hard walking around feeling guilty because you don’t love every second of your dream job. It’s a little scary too.

  “Sooo… knits,” says Laura. “The art deco movement is open to interpretation, but it relies heavily on bold geometric shapes, converging lines, and block patterns. Gold or silver threading throughout is common too. Some designers do bold colors, but Stefan prefers to keep them softer. He’d love to see green and rose in some of the designs.”

  Laura shows me some pictures of floor-length dresses with metallic threading. Another photo is of a skirt with a large diamond pattern. “These are some designs Stefan sent over,” she explains. “I’m working on a few of my own designs as well. But what would be really helpful is if we could brainstorm and come up with some together. Listening to others always sparks my creativity. How does that sound?”

  I love collaborating with Laura. “Perfect!”

  * * *

  Beside me, Laura sketches a design that reminds me of the black wool minidress from my trip to the Met. But rather than moons, Laura’s dress has overlapping oval and leaf designs, along with a cowl neck.

  “That’s really pretty,” I say. “It reminds me of Rudi Gernreich’s designs.”

  Laura beams. “He’s a real inspiration.”

  I study the sketch, which is primarily black, white, and gray, but notice that Laura has woven in shades of green as an accent. When she said to include rose and green, I’d imagined them as the primary colors. But I like her version better.

  Laura continues perfecting her design, and I get a brainstorm. I draw designs similar to Laura’s but with different collars. Instead of the green, I play with other colors like red, blue, and turquoise.

  Beside me, I notice that Laura has stopped sketching and is watching what I’m doing. “I love those,” she says. “Especially how the turquoise makes the dress pop.”

  “Thanks,” I reply. “Your accents with the green gave me the idea.”

  The white pages of my sketchbook beckon for more designs, and I rub my temples, hoping to bring something to the forefront. I start making random lines and circles and envision them coming together to form… something.

  I move the paper away from me to view the sketch in a new light. Then it hits me. With each pencil movement, the shape begins to form something cohesive. Soon, I’m looking at a tank dress with a scalloped bottom hem.

  Laura glances at my design. “I like that a lot, but it needs something,” she says. “Try adding metallic threading throughout.”

  “That’s it!” I say. That’s what was missing.

  Laura taps her pencil on her chin and frowns at her sketchpad. She’s drawn a fitted, knee-length dress with a wide boat neck and an empire waist. It’s a beautiful, if simple, sketch.

  “What else does it need?” Laura asks.

  “Something to add some drama,” I suggest. “What about making it floor length instead of knee length? You could add a pleated drop-waist skirt.”

  Laura lightly sketches the skirt I suggested and brightens. “Perfect!” She then uses colored pencils to add color to the dress, making a note to use silk charmeuse fabric.

  “This is the most fun I’ve had in a long time,” I say.

  Laura grins at me. “I’m so glad,” she says. Just then, her phone buzzes. She checks the text and sighs. “Stefan’s on his way.”

  “Was he supposed to come today?” I ask. I hate being in the dark.

  Laura shrugs. “It was possible, but I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to stress you out.”

  She’s right. I totally would have been stressed out.

  “It will be good, don’t worry,” says Laura. “We can show him the sketches and get feedback immediately.”

  My interactions with Stefan have been positive, and he even called my pocket designs “impressive” at my first all-department meeting with him. Still, I get anxious wondering if he’ll like the new designs. Laura was right to not tell me about the meeting ahead of time.

  “Immediate feedback,” I say. “Terrific.”

  Laura claps her hands, either not getting or ignoring my sarcasm. “Wonderful! And while he’s here, this will be a great time to talk about the next phase of the internship.”

  I nod but don’t say anything. The past two weeks have been so busy that I don’t know if I can handle adding another department to the mix. But I seriously doubt Stefan will want to hear that.

  Laura flips through our designs while we wait for Stefan. “I like these,” she finally says, “but Stefan’s opinion is what matters.”

  “Sure,” I say, as if her words don’t make me nervous at all.

  “I really do think he’ll like them,” says Laura.

  “What will I like?” Stefan asks, poking his head in the doorway.

  Laura jumps up from her chair, banging her knee in the process. “Good to see you,” she says. “Chloe and I worked on some sketches today, and I was just telling her I think they’re right up your alley.”

  Stefan steps closer. “Well, let’s take a peek,” he says. He hums as he looks through our sketches but doesn’t say anything.

  I try to catch Laura’s eye, but she’s too busy watching Stefan. He looks at each design three times and makes notes on the white space next to each drawing.

  “I’m impressed, Laura,” Stefan finally says. “I like the green accents here and the metallic touches. And the turquoise is lovely.”

  Laura smiles at me. “That one is Chloe’s.”

  Stefan raises his eyebrows. “Good work, Chloe. I’ll be honest, when we agreed to do Design Diva, I didn’t know who we’d be getting. But you’ve really surprised me — in a good way.”

  “Thank you,” I say gratefully. “It’s been such a pleasure working here.”

  Stefan chuckles. “Well, don’t say that just yet. There’s more in store for you.”

  I try to laugh too, but my throat is dry.

  “Let’s discuss some of these designs,” St
efan says. “I like that you understand the concept of art deco. And I know what you’ve been working on with Taylor, so it’s great to see the range.”

  I’m floating on air, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. I can sense a “but” coming.

  “However,” he continues, “Laura will work with you to refine your drawings. I definitely see where you’re going with these, though, and I like the direction. Laura’s leaf design is a favorite, and I’d like to see prototypes in turquoise and pale rose. Also, I’d like to see it as a shift. Make sense?”

  “I think so,” I say, glancing over at Laura. She nods.

  “Good. I want to see prototypes of the other designs too,” Stefan says. “Play with the sleeves — sleeveless, thin straps, cap sleeves. Give me options. I think they will fit in nicely with my vision for the knits I want to showcase.”

  “Wow, thanks so much, Mr. Meyers,” I gush. I hold out my hand to shake his, feeling a little silly, but I’m not sure what else to do. Stefan Meyers himself just told me he likes my designs! Sure, he wanted changes and told me I can refine my work, but for once I’m not focusing on the negative.

  Stefan rubs his chin. “You’re doing so well here, it’s a shame to move you.”

  “So don’t,” Laura chimes in quickly. “Seriously, I need her.”

  “Well…” Stefan says slowly. “The majority of Taylor’s designs are set, and she’ll be spending the next two weeks working with Liesel McKay. And I can see that the knits need more attention, and Laura can benefit from your assistance.” He clasps his hands together. “Here’s what we’ll do. We’ll keep you with Laura on the same days, Thursday and Friday. And you’ll be with Michael in PR on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I think that’s fair.”

  I relax. I’ll be learning something completely new, but at least I’m only shuffling between two departments, not three.

  “Perfect,” Laura says with a smile. It’s hard to tell what she’s thinking, and I wonder whether or not she really believes that. “Good by you, Chloe?”

  It’s nice that she’s asking, but we all know it has to be good by me. “Definitely, but, um, I’m not quite sure what PR does.”

  “You’ll learn,” Stefan says. “All the interns love it. It’s glam with a capital G. PR is the brains behind making the Stefan Meyers label look good. You’ll work with media contacts to get the word out about our spring line and what’s ahead. You’ll meet with reporters, you’ll learn how to write pitches. Do some treks to Vogue. You may even chat up a few celebs. It will be unlike anything you’ve ever done!”

  Stefan sounds so enthusiastic, I can’t help but get excited too. Celebs? Alex would die! Media? Talking to the press? And Vogue? The thought of walking those floors is indescribable. “That sounds amazing,” I say.

  “It will be,” Stefan agrees, “but it’s going to be a lot of hard work too. I’m smart to only talk up the glam.” He laughs.

  “Speaking of hard work…” says Laura.

  Stefan looks at his watch. “Understood. I’ll be in touch. Best of luck, Chloe.”

  When Stefan leaves, Laura dives right into explaining how to fix the designs. “I know sometimes you only hear the negatives,” she says. “So I want to stress how impressed both Stefan and I are with your drawings. That said, let’s discuss how we can make them better.”

  I pull my chair closer to listen.

  “First,” says Laura, “you want to exaggerate your figures further. Elongate the neck for a more elegant look.” She does a sketch beside mine, showing me how to exaggerate the figures.

  “Another thing you should try,” she continues, “is a black pencil to really define the drawing. Grays are nice, but blacks make for crisper lines.” On her sketch, she outlines it in black, and I see the difference immediately.

  I’ve been making fashion illustrations for years, but I’m excited by her suggestions on how to make them cleaner and better. “I’ve seen some people sketch on laptops too,” I say.

  Laura nods. “I prefer paper, but laptops can be really useful. Check this out.” She takes my notebook to a scanner and copies the image. Then, she shows me a file on the laptop and opens it in Photoshop. It’s my drawing!

  “Cool!” I say.

  “The computer makes it easy to erase any imperfections and clean it up. See these stray lines and smudges?” Laura says, pointing to a few spots where I erased.

  I nod. “Yeah.”

  “Now watch,” Laura says. In seconds, just by touching a few keys, the marks are gone.

  “That’s awesome!” I say. “Now my designs can look even more professional.”

  “I’d like you to use some of these ideas, and work on a sketch of the shift dress Stefan mentioned,” says Laura.

  I start drawing and think about what Stefan said about PR. How will I explain each design to the press? Will I get to meet Anna Wintour? I use a black pencil to give my drawing more definition, but my mind starts to wander. It’s hard to stay focused when all I see are the pages of Vogue magazine — filled with my designs.

  Margaret Gurevich has wanted to be a writer since second grade and has written for many magazines, including Girls’ Life, SELF, and Ladies’ Home Journal. Her first young adult novel, Inconvenient, was a Sydney Taylor Notable Book for Teens, and her second novel, Pieces of Us, garnered positive reviews from Kirkus, VOYA, and Publishers Weekly, which called it “painfully believable.” When not writing, Margaret enjoys hiking, cooking, reading, watching too much television, and spending time with her husband and son.

  Brooke Hagel is a fashion illustrator based in New York City. While studying fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology, she began her career as an intern, working in the wardrobe department of Sex and the City, the design studios of Cynthia Rowley, and the production offices of Saturday Night Live. After graduating, Brooke began designing and styling for Hearst Magazines, contributing to Harper’s Bazaar, House Beautiful, Seventeen, and Esquire. Brooke is now a successful illustrator with clients including Vogue, Teen Vogue, InStyle, Dior, Brian Atwood, Hugo Boss, Barbie, Gap, and Neutrogena.

  Chloe by Design is published by Capstone Young Readers

  A Capstone Imprint

  1710 Roe Crest Drive

  North Mankato, MN 56003

  www.capstonepub.com

  Text and illustrations © 2016 Stone Arch Books

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Gurevich, Margaret, author.

  Design disaster / by Margaret Gurevich; illustrations by Brooke Hagel.

  pages cm. -- (Chloe by design)

  Summary: After a few successful weeks of her internship with famous fashion designer Stefan Meyers, Chloe is asked to split her time between different departments — but her mentor in the new department is a very different person, and trying to please two masters at once is turning out to be more than a little stressful.

  ISBN 978-1-4965-0505-7 (hardcover)

  ISBN 978-1-4965-2311-2 (ebook pdf)

  ISBN 978-1-4965-3955-7 (ebook)

  1. Fashion design--Study and teaching (Internship)--Juvenile fiction. 2. Internship programs--Juvenile fiction. 3. Fashion designers--Juvenile fiction. 4. Mentoring in business--Juvenile fiction. 5. Self-confidence--Juvenile fiction. 6. New York (N.Y.)--Juvenile fiction. [1. Fashion design--Fiction. 2. Internship programs--Fiction. 3. Mentoring--Fiction. 4. Self-confidence--Fiction. 5. New York (N.Y.)--Fiction.] I. Hagel, Brooke, illustrator. II. Title. III. Series: Gurevich, Margaret. Chloe by design.

  PZ7.G98146Ddm 2016

  813.6--dc23 [Fic]

  2014043423

  Designer: Alison Thiele />
  Editor: Alison Deering

  Artistic Elements: Shutterstock