Career backstory: I graduated from FIT with a degree in Fabric Styling, which is essentially the closest thing you can get to a trend forecasting degree. While in school I interned a ton: showroom sales, product development, styling, I gave everything a shot. I thought forecasting was the direction I’d go in, either for an agency or in-house research and development. I wound up with a great part-time gig at Warby Parker my senior year that lead into a full-time job upon graduation. It was incredible to be at that company in its early stages and to watch it grow, but I had veered off the path I’d intended to be on.
I e-mailed Racked blindly about a shopping feature they were doing on the site that I liked, and suggested some ideas. They wrote me back within 20 minutes—I was astonished, and so excited. I started contributing to the local “New York” site and the “National” edition while holding my full-time job at Warby Parker (I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep during that time). Writing for Racked made me so happy, but the team was small at the time and I didn’t expect my role to grow beyond contributor. Amazingly, a spot as associate editor for the New York site opened up, and I did that for a year, covering all the NYC shopping news including store openings, events, and, yes, sample sales. I moved over to our National site at the beginning of 2014 in the newly-created role as market editor, responsible for covering all the pertinent brand launches, product releases, and essential trends in the broad scope of women’s fashion.
Industry pet peeve: Maybe this is sensitive (or picky, or both), but it’s always insulting when PR folk e-mail and ask “are you working on anything right now?” Much more important peeve: I think it’s ridiculous that fall clothes are delivered to stores mid-July.
Work confession: I will go to almost any event that has a manicure station.
Job must-have: Clouded note keeping! Dropbox, the Apple Notes app, and Google Docs are my lifelines because I can save ideas whether I’m at home, in the office, or on my phone, and they’re all in one place.
Favorite work perk: See above, re: manicures.
You started out working in fashion; what made you want to switch to fashion editorial? Landing in editorial was accidental fate! I have always enjoyed writing and, in a larger sense, communicating, be it on paper, in conversation, with visuals. The domino effect of landing where I am was absolutely unplanned.
Racked is famous for listing sample sales around the city; do you have any survival tips? Showroom sample sales often get overlooked, but they’re usually a goldmine compared to brand-operated sample sales (my favorite is The News showroom sample sale). Do not, by any means, buy anything that isn’t perfect in that moment: no promising yourself you’ll get it tailored, no saving for next season, no assuming it’ll fit if you just drop a few pounds. Lastly, it’s just stuff—no need to go crazy (blowing off work to wait in line) or act crazy (being anything but gracious to other shoppers) in the pursuit of it. I promise you’ll find other beautiful things to spend money on.
Favorite published pieces: There were a trio of one-off posts I worked on for fashion week that I really loved, and actually have very little to do with market: the first was this “Which Fash-Un Girl Are You” quiz; the second was this story where we tracked manicurist Jin Soon, InStyle editor Ali Pew, and a Getty photographer with Nike FuelBands to see who was actually the busiest (“Three Fashion Jobs, One Fashion Week: Who’s Busiest?”); and the third was this story where we sent bros to shows (“Bros Go Front Row: What Happens When Dudes Do Fashion Week”) which was a collaborative effort with writers from around the Vox Media network and is absolutely hilarious and endearing and full of great points.
More in line with my usual beat, I really liked how this story on designer backpacks turned out (“Pretty, Functional, Expensive: 15 Outrageous Designer Backpacks”) because it’s equal parts explainer and gawking at gorgeous things, which is a balance I can get behind. This story on new jewelry shapes (“Vital Jewelry Update: Five New Shapes to Know, 50 Ways to Wear”) is also a recent favorite—I loved being able to expose readers to some newer designers alongside the major brands they already know and love.
Advice for breaking into the industry: Intern, and while you’re at it, be open, be available, and don’t be afraid to speak up. Also, don’t be so precious about job opportunities—you never know what you might learn, who you might meet, or what you might love doing until you try.
Location: New York, NY
Twitter: twitter.com/nicola_fumo
Instagram: instagram.com/nicola_fumo
Amanda Jean Black is a guest blogger at Ed2010, sharing stories from her site onthemasthead.com. When not hunting down publishing’s elite for an interview, you can find the native New Yorker obsessing about style and culture, shopping for designer streetwear, and jamming out to 90′s alt rock.
