So it’s your final year at school and you’re graduating soon? What’s a girl to do? Well, take some advice from Hannah Almassi, the Fashion News and Features Assistant at Grazia UK.

*       What did you study at school and where?

I went to Nottingham Trent University which has a great art and design school. I studied Fashion Design, it’s a good place to study fashion for the real world – you can be creative but also understand the commercial and business side of things.

*       Were you always interested in fashion?

I have been interested in fashion since I can remember! Both my Mum and Nan have always made their own clothes (and mine too when I was younger – I had a great purple and black checked taffeta prom dress, very PPQ!) As a kid I’d always consider what I would wear for the day and would be really picky, then at about 10 years old I started to draw little fashion sketches and spend hours with my nose in fashion magazines. At secondary school I was always really creative and went a bit crazy with my outfits (much to my headmistress’s disgust!) I’ve always been a bit of a shopaholic and love putting clothes together. I can remember the moment that I felt fashion was for definitely for me, was when watching a TV programme on John Galliano and just being so entralled by his flair for creating extraordinary fashion – it looked so fun, so glamorous and sexy.

How many places did you apply before finding a job?

During my final year at uni I applied for hundreds of placements and kept a really open mind about where I could try out working. I was organised about it all and already had a years worth of different work experience placements all set up for when I graduated. But then I came to Grazia first, adored it and was luckily offered a longer internship at the time to be Melanie Rickey’s assistant… which of course, I snapped up!

*       What’s a typical day like?

It really varies, being on a weekly mag it’s incredibly busy all the time – every day has a major deadline so that the magazine can go to print. My work spans from doing product call ins, to coming up with stories and ideas for the print magazine and also the website www.graziadaily.co.uk , going to fashion weeks, writing copy and interviewing people to style hunting the public. It’s never boring – I’m always involved in something different.

*       What been the most exciting part of your job?

There have been loads of stand out moments. Probably one of the most memorable so far was being backstage at the British Fashion Awards and interviewing the winners on camera – meeting people like Luella, Matthew Williamson and Stephen Jones was an incredible honour. On a daily basis the Grazia fashion team are so knowledgable and talented, so it’s really encouraging and inspiring to be around them. But the best feeling has to be seeing my name in print on Grazia’s masterhead each week (yes, I’m a loser and still look at it each time!) Oh, and working from a perspex pod in the new Westfield shopping centre for a week was pretty unforgettable too!

*       What is your official position at Grazia?

Fashion News and Features Assistant

*       Have you been promoted since you started your job?

I was originally meant to do one month, then six and now I’ve been at Grazia for about 15 months! Although my job position hasn’t changed, the longer I am there the more I am able to do and contribute and develop.

*       What advice do you have to graduates?

The best advice I can give is to just work your socks off. If you don’t turn up for a placement keen and eager and willing to get on with the job, people just won’t remember you – or want to keep you there. Sometimes being an intern can feel awful, but it’s a process to get to somewhere amazing. I still spend hours in the fashion cupboard returning clothes – but I wouldn’t give it up because the perks of doing a job you love in a brilliant, lively industry are immeasurable.

*       Who is your fashion icon and why?

I have different fashion icons for different moods – more like fashion moments… I love Marlene Dietrich for her androgynous style which was so revolutionary at the time. I adore the model Verushka for looking so darn gorgeous in YSL’s safari collection. If there’s anyone I channel the most – it’s Dot Cotton! And right now, I’m obsessed with Faye Dunaway in the film The Eyes of Laura Mars – fantastic 70s outfits full of two piece skirt suits, giant throws, fabulous knee high boots and enough hair crimping to make me consider doing it again!

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I recently met with the lovely Leon Bailey Green. He is an online marketing and branding consultant. He is also the director of marketing for OSOYOU.

OSOYOU is one stop shop which helps shoppers navigate their way round the internet. If you’re looking for a little black dress OSOYOU is going to give you a selection from many different shops – my search results gave me “18,947 items “! Of course this is a lot of dresses but it’s really only about 30 pages and I could have refined my search. So really it’s just not a lot of click-throughs to find the perfect dress!

Dawn Bebe is the Managing Director of OSOYOU and if it wasn’t for her and all her persistence and hard work we would not have Grazia!! She’s responsible for bringing Grazia to the UK! It’s one of my favourite weekly reads

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D&G was great. Quite inspiring, so much plaid, very Bay City Rollers meets Little House on the Prairie.

Another Hannah Almassy sighting. This Grazia girl is popular!

Great treats, lots of little chocolate mousse pots and delicious Laduree macaroons to accompany a cup of tea – of course there is always champagne!

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It was great to run into one of my favourite Hannah’s – Hannah Almassi from Grazia!

A press day is when a PR presents the new collection to editors and stylists. Most PRs carry more than one brand and some brands are done in house. During the press day you can create a list of the clothes you’d like to feature in your up coming shoots for the next season. Everything we are looking at is autumn/winter 08. This might be the only time the pr has the whole collection in their showroom, as the clothes will always be coming and going to different shoots. For the higher end brands usually there are no duplicates so the one collection is shipped all over the world and used by all the magazines worldwide etc. Some brand have a press office in Europe and North American, they might even have variations in the collection to suit the different markets.

It’s the prs job to get the garment as much press as possible – but not just any press. I don’t really believe that all press is good press. Every brand has a list of preferred magazines & types of celebrities that it wants to be associated with, but of course many brands/prs can be very accommodating.

At these events there is always lots of chocolates and delicious things to nibble on! I may have had one to many flake bars…

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This was Vivienne Westwood’s first show in London in 9 years. There maybe many reasons for her showing in London but maybe one of the strongest reason is to speak out and create action in the UK about the 277 prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay. The U.S. plans to prosecute Guantanamo Bay prisoners at military tribunals. “Fair trial my arse” were the sentiments of the show: the slogan was printed on a pair of “prison” orange knickers worn by one of the models. It’s refreshing to go to show that mixes fashion and politics. We forget how powerful fashion can be – as an organization – it doesn’t mean we all have the same political views just because we’re in the same industry but it does mean that we have a bigger voice then we think we have and we shouldn’t be afraid to use it.
Her information pack contains information petitions and charitable donation to support “Fair Trial My Arse” you can go to www.reprieve.org.uk.

For some reason I’ve starting thinking of Constance Lytton – my mind wonders… Anyway Constance Lytton was born in 1869 to a privileged family: Robert, the first Earl of Lytton and Edith Villiers. In 1908 Constance Lytton joined the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) and in 1909 she took part in a demonstration at the House of Commons where she was arrested and imprisoned. As soon as the authorities realized who she was, she was released, she was angry that she was given special treatment so she disguised herself and took a new identity: Jane Wharton, a London seamstress. At another demonstration Constance (Jane) was arrested and this time sentenced to fourteen days and when she refused to eat she was forced fed eight times. Again Constance was released when the authorities realized who she was. Constance wrote articles and pamphlets on women’s rights for the WSPU and wrote a book on her experiences in the suffragette movement called Prisons and Prisoners. I really admire Constance Lytton, she used her social position to change the world she lived in and maybe somehow that makes me think of Vivienne Westwood. There are very few people in this world who really say and do what they think and they know it’s not without repercussions but they know it’s the right thing to do and they do it.

I love seeing the crowds at shows! (This is the same venue as Basso and Brook)

Sophie Ellis Bextor and Richard Jones

Amechi Ihenacho looking quite dashing with his lovely sister!

The lovely Hannah Almassi from Grazia.

I have always been a fan of big hair and this season we’ve seen lots & lots of crimped hair!

More big hair and great make up!

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