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Table of Contents

Cover Letter Press Release

Letter of Persuasion Proposal

Formal Report Collaborative Informal Report

Cover Letter 63 E. Lake St. Apt# 1704 Chicago, IL 60601 December 8, 2014 Mrs. Linda Peluso Internship Coordinator Simon Showroom 95 Fifth Avenue New York City, NY 10003 Dear Mrs. Peluso, While employed as a Sales Associate for Mettler’s, I had been working with Mollie Ketroser on purchase orders for Sundry. Mollie and I got to talking about the brand and the showroom itself when she mentioned your internship program. As a student at Columbia College studying fashion business, I feel that Simon Showroom could give me the chance to utilize and expand my knowledge of the business. Because of my previous experience at Mettler’s, I am already familiar with several of the brands Simon Showroom houses, and I have been selling them for a couple of years. I am accustomed to the long days of working trade shows-‐-‐ unpacking, steaming, and repacking garments-‐-‐ as well as the ordering and transferring processes that follow the shows. While I believe I have a strong base of skills that would be of value to the Simon Showroom team, I am sure that this experience would help further develop and hone my skills. I would appreciate the opportunity to discuss what the internship entails. I can be contacted at [email protected], thank you for taking the time to consider me. Sincerely, Taylor Markgraf

Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 8, 2014 KATE SPADE NEW YORK HOSTS PREVIEW SHOWROOM FOR ITS SPRING

2015 COLLECTION AT FLAGSHIP STORE ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13

NEW YORK CITY – Dec. 2, 2014 – Kate Spade New York will host a spring preview of the

2015 Spring/Summer collection at its flagship store on Madison Avenue on Dec. 13, 2014 (5:00-

8:00pm). The store itself will be transformed into a showroom where the new collection will be

displayed.

The store will remove all of the typical merchandise and displays to create a showroom. The team

at Kate Spade will transform this empty space by installing three walls covered in white flowers,

one wall in their signature black and white stripe pattern, and the floor covered in grass. Models

will be on display wearing the collection that was inspired by vacation, which translates into

relaxed dresses and more flats as opposed to heels.

“Our customers will escape the ordinary to a place where swimming, lounging, and living in the

moment are the only tasks at hand,” said designer and CEO Kate Spade. There will only be 150

customers allowed in the store at a time due to capacity regulations. There will be a designated

waiting line area outside of the store. Once the customers are in the store, they will experience the

private presentation of the collection and will have the only opportunity for pre-ordering all items

shown.

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Letter of Persuasion

Fellow Board Members,

I may be the newest addition to the Madewell Board but I have been a customer for

10 years and an employee for five. You could say I know the stores in and out. Our

mission statement set by our sister store J. Crew states, “It’s one of our top priorities

to run our business with sensitivity to the world around us.” Today, the world

around us is grappling with the controversial issue of openly carrying guns in public

places.

It has come to my attention, from The Wall Street Journal, that 31 out of the

50 states allow open carry without a license or permit, 12 states require a license or

permit, and seven still prohibit open carry. This suggests that there are people all

over the country openly carrying guns in public places. The FBI recently did a study

of 160 active shooter incidents in the United States between 2000 and 2013. What I

found most alarming in this study is that 45.6% of the incidents happened in

Commerce areas. Out of that 45.6%, 27.5% happened in businesses open to

pedestrian traffic, 14.4% were in businesses closed to pedestrian traffic, and 3.8%

happened in malls.

The issue we face as a company is whether or not we should allow our

customers to carry guns in our stores. When I think about the Madewell stores, I

focus on their fun, energetic, and safe shopping environment. If we were to allow

customers to openly carry weapons in the stores, would we be compromising our

signature environment? I personally feel that we would. Pew Research Center shows

us that more men than women carry guns, and the majority of the people who do

openly carry are 50 years-‐old and up. Considering that our clientele is made up of

young women, I don’t believe we would have an issue with this request.

We need to give our customers the peace of mind that when they shop in our

stores it remains a worry free and safe environment because not everyone feels

comfortable around guns. By banning guns, no one would be openly carrying a

weapon that eliminates the reason to feel the need for protection. Asking our

customers to simply refrain from bringing their gun into our stores creates a win,

win situation.

In order to achieve this, I propose we take to our social media platforms and

start a campaign about creating a worry free shopping environment for all. Some

might argue that the guns make them feel more safe and protected rather than

walking around unarmed. I feel that it is fair and still sensitive to the world around

us.

Thank you,

Taylor Markgraf

Madewell Board Member

Proposal

Taylor Markgraf Event Coordinator Art Institute of Chicago

Dear Maje Team, Welcome to the Windy City! The sophistication of Maje makes a tremendous

addition to the shopping on Oak Street. It has come to our attention that the Maje

Team is looking to put on a fashion show to establish its new presence in Chicago

and is in need of a venue for the affair. We believe that the only venue that showcase

the collection, but do so while demonstrating how the collection fits within

Chicago’s chic ambiance, is the Art Institute.

THE VENUE

The Art Institute of Chicago has been around for 135 years and has a well-‐

established presence in the city as well as the world. We are home to many inspiring

collections, a library, the modern wing, and our gardens—all of which are used for

grand events year round.

Several of my event planning team members have been raving about the artistic

beauty and structural elegance of the clothing at Maje and could not possibly

imagine your fashion show anywhere else but at the Art Institute. The evening could

start with an intimate cocktail hour in the Pritzker Garden where Chicago’s elite

could mingle and get to know the Chicago Maje Team. Following cocktail hour, the

guests would walk back through the museum to the South Garden, which is lined

with canopied trees and dotted with glowing fountains, where the fashion show will

take place.

LOGOSTICS

For the cocktail party: The Pritzker Garden offers

o Indoor room

o Outdoor space

• Each space can hold 400 people

• The spaces can be rented separately or together depending on how many

guests you would have attending.

For the runway show: South Garden is a three–tiered structure

1. The terrace

o Large enough to hold the backstage of the runway.

§ Because it is raised off the ground, this would eliminate the

expense of bringing in a raised surface to keep the clothing

protected.

2. The walkway which is ground level

o Where the runway and seating would be.

§ The surface is made up of wide pieces of granite that can

double as an area for the runway and seating.

3. A few steps down from ground level

o This is where the fountains rest.

o Unusable due to the height difference, but still important to the

ambiance of the space. Because the fountains are lower than the

audience, all the audience sees is glowing water. It is truly a unique

aspect of the layout of the garden.

SERVICES AND EXPENSES

We trust that Maje will supply: models, staff members for backstage, hair, make-‐up,

a photographer, DJ, tech and special effects, and advertising and printing. On top of

the venue and event planning assistance, The Art Institute can supply the following:

lighting, chairs, tents, flats, security, and luxury port-‐a-‐potties. The breakdown of

costs would be:

• Pritzker Garden $5,000.00 • South Garden $10,000.00 • Event Planning Service $2,000.00 • Lighting $4,650.00 • Chairs (for 400 people) $1,500.00 • Tents (to cover the backstage) $8,000.00 • Flats $300.00 • Security $1,000.00 • Luxury Port-‐a-‐Potties $800.00

TOTAL $33,250.00

EVENT SCHEDULE

Planning extensive events like a fashion show usually starts between six and 12

months before the event date. Because this is not Maje’s first fashion show, I would

feel confident if we started meetings eight months before the desired show date. I

would suggest that our teams meet once a month for the first six months to lock

down a theme, create a floor plan, generate a drink menu, come up with the lighting

designs, choose the chairs, and decide on how many tents we will need to shelter the

backstage. For the two months prior to the show, I propose that we meet every

other week to finalize everything. Lastly, the night before and morning of the event

will be spent setting up.

v

This location is unlike any in Chicago. The architectural grandness of the Museum

and the elegance of its gardens paints a picture of classic elegance that complements

Maje perfectly. I look forward to the opportunity of meeting with the Maje Team.

Thank you, Taylor Markgraf Event Coordinator Art Institute of Chicago

Formal Report

Components That Makeup an Appealing Website By Taylor Markgraf December 8, 2014

Components of an Appealing Website The purpose of a website for Sable Et Mer is to give its customers an online

shopping experience that takes them to the boutique in the south of France. To

make this environment you must recreate the stores aesthetic by usability, pictures,

and color. These three components can either make or break a website as shown by

comparing Club Monaco’s site to Mettler’s site. By doing this comparison, it will be

shown that usability, pictures, and color come together to create a visually pleasing

site that leaves a good first impression.

Usability The first component to an appealing website is usability. Without a user-‐friendly

menu bar, all of the design work won’t matter because the users will be unable to

find their way around the site. The website, Aspire Internet Design says, “The

navigation needs to be straightforward and the design needs to be created based on

how users will interact with the site.” This means that the menu bar should always

be on the page and should always be straightforward.

Club Monaco’s menu bar expands (as shown below) and continues to stay at the top

while clicking and scrolling through the pages. Mettler’s menu bar does not expand

and does not travel with the web page as it is being scrolled down. This creates

more work for the user to navigate through the website and can possibly lead to

frustration, causing loss of potential sales.

Pictures According to the website, Aspire Internet Design, “Images speak volumes about your

company and play a key role in your website’s look and feel.” By choosing pictures

that show exactly what the store and products look like, you solidify how the

company looks and feels. This can be done by finding the best light possible for

photographing, or by hiring a professional photographer to capture the store and its

products. Either way, the photos of the products should be uniform so that the users

focus in on the actual product and not the different photos on the page. If this is

executed correctly, customers get to see exactly what the store is and what it has to

offer, leaving them with a good first impression.

Mettler’s photos are not uniform; they are, however similar, but it still takes away

from viewing and comparing the garments. As you can see below, Club Monaco’s

photos are formatted similarly, there is a model wearing the garment and a white

background. Also, the photos are taken from the same distance. Mettler’s photos, on

the other hand, are not consistently formatted and have various dimensions.

Color Whether you know it or not, colors can hold specific uses and are tied to personality

traits and emotions. When designing a website it’s important to keep in mind that

84.7% of consumers buy something based on color alone, which means companies

need to know what emotions colors evoke. For example, blue is related to

communication, truth, and self-‐expression. This is why several social media

platforms used this color in their logos. Blue is also known to create a sense of

security and trust in a particular brand. This color psychology extends beyond just

logos; lots of companies pay attention to this in their color schemes of their web

design.

Conclusion and Recommendations When creating an online store, the usability, pictures, and color are key for creating

an appealing website. Sable et Mer’s site will leave a good first impression if the

components above are executed based on the store’s aesthetic. In order to achieve

this, I recommend:

• Having a menu bar that resembles the Club Monaco example above. This bar

is organized and is simple. I would like to see a menu that stays at the top of

the screen even if you scroll down. This way anything you want to get to on

the site is just a click away-‐-‐no extra scrolling necessary.

• Taking photos of the clothing with the southern coast of France as the

backdrop will enhance the feel of the website. However, each garment will

need to be additionally photographed in a uniform way against a white

background to give the customer different views of the product for selling

purposes.

• As for the colors, white and blue should be the main colors. White is pure,

innocent, and peaceful. Also, it is affiliated with pearl and linen, both of which

are products you offer. Blue is tranquil, calm, and serene and is associated

with trust and self-‐expression. You want people to have trust in your brand

and clothing is a way of self-‐expression. These two colors paired together

will paint the image of what the clothing company is all about.

Collaborative Informal Report

To: Larry Rudolph, Miley Cyrus’s Manager From: Taylor, Kimberly, Emma, and Sarah (Personal Branding Department) Date: December 8, 2014 Subject: Revamping Miley

Introduction Miley Cyrus has established herself as the new wild child of Hollywood with

R-rated concerts and questionable behavior. In the past, many former Disney

Channel stars have gone down the wrong path, resulting in self-destructive career

choices. Our goal is to revamp, not recreate, Miley’s brand image. In order to do so,

we will examine and suggest changes in style, public appearances and social media,

and suggest ideas for Miley’s future body of work.

Style We live in a world where when you meet someone for the first time, they form

an opinion of you in less than one second. For all personal brands trying to make it

in any industry, that can be a pretty crucial second. Personal styling starts with what

one wants their brand to stand for. Once one determines this, they should aim to

represent those qualities. Today, Miley is showing us that she is anything but tame.

For example, her clothing–or lack of clothing–promotes sex, drugs, and rebellion.

While she is known for having crazy costumes and hairstyles, wearing them on a red

carpet or to a black tie event is inappropriate. Miley needs to take into consideration

that, from head to toe, she is a walking billboard for her brand. By changing how wild

her appearance is, we can reinforce a revamped personal brand that more people

can relate to. In order to do this, a stylist who works with young Hollywood should be

hired to dress her for all public events (this is further discussed in the

recommendation section).

Public Relations and Social Media It is one thing to create an online presence; it is another to maintain it by

monitoring what is being posted. With an enormous social media presence, for

example 13,562,734 followers on Instagram, Miley should work towards using this

platform to improve her brand and influence people from all over the world. Miley is

known for posting lewd photos and associating herself with those that are a part of

the “party scene.” A significant amount of photos that she posts are with her tongue

out and/or engaging in sexual poses. Another factor of maintaining a positive

presence in your industry is attending the right events. Miley attends parties where

there have been arrests for drug use as well as other illegal activities. The significant

amount of attention Miley gets for drugs is an extreme setback in the pursuit of a

better image. Miley’s fans have spoken out about the drug use, drastic changes in

her appearance, and lewd behavior with a negative reaction. This image puts her fan

base at risk, which is the most important factor in regards to a celebrity’s success.

She can help all of this by getting involved in charities, surrounding herself with

positive friends, and by not posing inappropriately.

Body of Work When it comes to developing a certain name for one’s self in the music

industry, persona and the actual music should be cohesive with the brand and image

one is wishing to portray. When trying to reach a certain type of market, the artist

should be relatable to this audience and create music that will cater to them.

Currently, Miley has songs that promote the lavish and crazy lifestyle she is known

for; specifically with lyrical content about drugs, sexual innuendos, and partying. Her

music videos and live performances display her as wild, displaying sexual dance

moves, extremely little clothing, and are more drama focused rather than musically

driven. In addition, to be respected and considered as “real” musician, it is beneficial

that an artist plays an instrument and release songs that truly display musicianship.

In Miley’s early career she was known to write her own music and play guitar—which

she has completely disregarded in her more recent image. She should get back to

focusing on her music, by perhaps seeking someone to talk to about why she feels

the need to exploit herself through her music.

Recommendations In order to make Miley Cyrus’ image more relatable, we recommend that she

work on her personal style, public relations and social media, and her future music.

We suggest that Miley’s appearance shift from wild to youthful and edgy. She can do

this by working with Monica Rose, a celebrity stylist who dresses the edgy and

trendy stars of Hollywood. Hiring Monica Rose will help Miley separate a stage

appearance from a red carpet appearance, which will lead to a more refined

personal style. We believe that she can revamp her costumes by wearing outfits that

empower women, not degrade them.

Secondly, she should her use her large social media following to her benefit.

We suggest that she start posting less lewd photos and focus on positive influences

for her fan base. These platforms should be a way for her fans to look up to her and

to feel connected, not to decrease her fan base. Miley should distance herself from

the party-girl image and begin to attend more appropriate events that do not result in

drug arrests or negative attention. An example of an event that would improve her

brand image could be a non-profit fundraiser, or working with charity organizations.

These could include her supporting a cause that is near and dear to her heart.

Miley must shift the focus of her music from drugs and partying to other less

polarizing subjects for her future endeavors and projects. She should consider

focusing more on the quality of her music to gain more respect from her colleagues,

critics, and fans. If Miley wishes to reach a more mature type of audience, she must

create music that is reflective of this market. Miley should present herself as a

respectable artist and find songwriters who will cater to her needs. Lyrics of drugs,

twerking, sex, and claiming to be “untamable” should not be in the music. Concerts

should be less risqué and R-rated outfits should not be worn. Instead, she could

consider wearing outfits that display her figure in an appropriate way, rather than

showing too much skin. Performances ought to consist of less suggestive dance

moves and instead be more music – focused. Perhaps fun and quirky could be her

performance motto, rather than her usual sex appeal tactics. By following these

recommendations, Miley Cyrus can successfully create a more mature image for

herself and her brand.