Facts About Fashion

Before it even hit the shelves Teen Vogue Handbook: An Insider's Guide to Careers in Fashion was getting a lot of buzz and it has been selling at a brisk pace ever since, so it was quite a treat for Otis to have Teen Vogue Editor in Chief Amy Astley on campus this past Monday to talk about the book and some of the realities of the fashion industry.

Seated on stage in the Ahmanson Hall Forum Amy talked with Otis' own Rosemary Brantley about what inspired the book- the tremendous series of questions she has been asked about the industry, how to break in- work hard, offer to intern for free, be ready to fetch a lot of coffee, her own path- Michigan girl takes a chance on New York and succeeds, to name just a few.

Following the talk there was a question and answer session and then a book signing. I was impressed that Amy managed to be both very candid and very encouraging at the same time. Many of those in the audience were current or prospective Otis students and I thought she struck just the right balance of encouragement and fair warning about the world of fashion. You can read one student's take on the whole here.

We video taped the event and plan to have something up on our YouTube channel in the near future!