Accessory Discussions with k20

One of my favorite parts of being an accessories intern is getting to play with and try on jewelry. My love for jewelry started early on when my god-father bought me my first 14k gold bracelet when I was in kindergarden. Since then I've had an assortment of jewelry such as necklaces, rings, earrings and bracelets. I'm lucky that in my past internship experiences I've gotten to be both an accessories and jewelry intern at the same time. Below you'll find a short interview I did with jewelry designer Karen of k2o by Karen Ko.

Me: Hi Karen thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions I had about your jewelry collection. So tell me a little about your brand/ collection, inspiration, textures etc. 

Karen: My fashion forward jewelry brand, k2o by Karen Ko is inspired by art deco/ geometric shapes with a dash of glamour and edge. k2o by Karen Ko consists of three lines Glam, Rock, and Pop where each piece meticulously handcrafted into eye-catching statements using Swarovski crystallized elements, resin spikes, casted metal and delicate chains.

Me: So Karen give me and our readers a little more in depth feel about your three lines, break it down for us.

Karen: Well Victor this fall season our inspiration is as follows for each line:
k2o GLAM:  a continuation of our core style: art deco shapes but with a 1920s twist.
k2o Rock: a more feminine take on the punk rock trend with a focus on spider webs, nets and delicate spikes.
k2o Pop: our modern geometric woven designs come in this season's hottest colors: emerald green, denim blue, ruby red, pale lilac, and bright orange.

Me: Oh Karen I'm in love with your rings! Do you mind if I show my readers some of my favorite pieces?

Karen: Victor feel free, I hope they love them as much as you do! Xx
The Helix ring set is amazing and only $60. This is a definite buy and will serve a great purpose for my fall accessory look.

Hand Bracelets are the accessory statement of the moment! Featuring intricate chain details and delicate gold chains, our Thread Hand Bracelets can be worn on it's own or stacked with your favorite bracelets and rings.

 The petite crystal ball comes this fall's top 5 color trends to keep you fashionably stylish.  Each ring features sparkly Swarovski crystals handwoven onto a sterling silver 'X' ring.

I hope you all enjoyed my interview with Karen of k2o. If you like what you've seen so far go ahead and head over to her site and shop till you drop. 

Xx
Accessory Intern

Carry-All

For me traveling in NYC can be a pain especially when having to carry a bag on a train crowded with people and their bags swinging all over the place knocking your bag off your shoulder lol ughhh that gets on my nerves! After many fallen bags and elbow pokes from New Yorkers I've decided to break out my carry-all bag from American Apparel. I love that they come in so many different colors and sizes. I myself like to pack light when traveling to the city for a few hours then back to Brooklyn so I grab my carry- all throw in my iPad2 a few snacks, phone charger, hand sanitizer , headphones &  go. Below is a typical day where I have nothing to do so I spend a few hours to run errands.

It's not to too cold in New York but being that I'm from Southern California and even though I've lived here for almost three year I'm still not use to this sudden cold weather lol don't judge me for having on this coat so soon lol.

Xx

Accessory Intern

Something New

For the last two years I've been the Accessory Intern at various magazines as you all know and I've loved every minuet of it! Now after many talks with different boss's over those two years I've finally decided to take a break from editorial/magazines and doing market work to join the other side. Yes (PR) ahhhhhhhhh I know me, the boy who was always scared of the Pr world and those tall, chic Pr girls that wear all black and high buns in their hair ahhhhhhhh lol. So I'm starting at a well known and respected fashion house this fall to do in house Pr. I'm veryyyyyy nervous because I DO NOT want to mess anything up! I know sometimes my nervousness gets in the way but I'm going to go in there and do my best at learning everything I can. In my interview they seemed a bit hesitate to move forward with me mainly because I have done nothing but editorial internships but I convinced them that I'm a fast learner and I can handle whatever is thrown at me! I start the 19th of August and cannot wait to do so! Although that 3 avenue walk from 8th ave to 11th ave is going to kill me 4 days a week lol yolo!

Here is my new notebook that I write everything in from todo list, blog topics, outfit ideas etc lol I in love with it!

Xx

Accessory Intern

4th of July

Well, *sigh another holiday stuck in NYC without my family and friends lol it wasn't so bad despite the heat I actually had a lot of fun. Myself and fav couple went started our day at home in Brooklyn at Dunkin Donuts with cold lemonade coolattas then ventured off to downtown Brooklyn. We heard the new Kevin Hart movie was good so we decided to check it out. For the most part it was funny! I myself had doubts but it was worth the $14.00 we paid ahhhhhh NYC is so expensive lol. Theeeeeeeeen we met up with more friends and continued our journey to the Brooklyn promenade to watch the fireworks. When I tell you guys it was pacccccccccccccked and full of people and (children) ahhhh it was! lol as we all waited with anticipation we noticed the firework show happening across the water lol. We all felt like we got punked lol we kinda did but yolo it was nice being by the water and not being hot for once. Below are photos and videos of the incredible view we had. Enjoy!!

Xx

Accessory Intern

End of Days

This is the part of a good internship that I hate. May 31, 2013 was my last day as an accessories intern at Vogue. It was probably one of the saddest days in my life lol no seriously. I got so use to coming into the office and seeing the same faces everyday for 5 months that on my last day it hit me that this was the last time I would be doing this. I told myself I wasn't going to cry and I didn't lol I wanted to though. I tried my hardest while interning there and gave it my all. Yes there were those days when I wanted to give up but I never did. Yes there were those days when things got hard but I stuck them out. I'm glad I did because I made connections with some pretty important people in that office. I hope they know how much I looked up to them an respected them and will never forget them! Below I have photos of us on our last day.

Myself, Olivia, Daphne, & our freelancer Suzs I'm going to miss our team!<3

This is Terence our Accessories Assistant, he was like a big brother to me in the office I miss him already!

 TT & VICKY

I'll never forget this internship. I always think about those fun times we had in the closet while packing for shoots or doing boards or just sitting around talking after everyone in the office has left and were laughing about all the craziness that happened that day. I'm so going to miss my boss's and hope to one day work with them again! <3

Xx

Accessory Intern

Intern Friends( Williamsburg Adventures)

Today was a nice day in New York and being as though I finally had a Sunday off from work myself and two of my favorite intern friends( and pickles the doggy) decided to check out the Brooklyn Flea Market in Williamsburg. It was so much fun seeing what was being sold. There were a lot of nice pieces the vendors had and at good prices but we didn't buy anything lol. We kind of window shopped so when we go back next weekend or maybe in two weeks we'll have an idea of what we want to buy. Myself and Jessica(intern friend) were looking more for home furnishings like jewelry racks and mirrors. Valarie(other intern friend) had finding a few vintage dresses on her mind check out the below photos of our day.

after we left the market we went and got pizza & Mmmmmm I got BBQ chicken & Mac&Cheese with bacon and sour cream. They were delish! 

I had such a fun day with my intern friends. I would've just wasted today on sleeping or laying here but I'm glad I got out of bed and explored a bit.

Xx

Accessory Intern

Inspirational People

Before beginning my journey in the fashion industry I had always heard things about African Americans not getting jobs or not being respected etc. I "loved" fashion just like any other teenager thought they loved fashion but really had no idea what fashion really was. When I finally moved to New York after two years of dreaming I shared a dorm room with an asian boy. What we had in common was that we both wanted to work on the editorial side of the magazine industry. We would spend hours at night talking about what we wanted to do and so on and so on. He one day told me that it would be harder for me to get into the fashion industry because I am African American. Those words cut me deep but didn't stop me. As you all know I've interned at my fair share of magazines and my skin color wasn't in the way of me getting the job. In fact while interning at those magazines I've had some African American boss's who were pretty high up on the masthead. Also who were very influential and kind. They were the people who made me want to come into the office everyday just so that I could work with them. Below I'm going to give a shout out to a few of my pervious African American boss's who inspired me to keep going everyday.

Here is Shiona Turni my old boss from Teen Vogue when I interned there she was the Accessories Director and now is the Market Director at CR Fashion Book (which I'll be interning at soon *fingers crossed). She was " The Devil Wears Prada" in the office, or at least to us interns lol. I was noticed by her because of how should I put this? I wasn't afraid of her lol I would be the one that got sent into her office to ask if we could return a shoe or bag back to its Pr Firm. I guess that made me stand out to her and make her notice me because from then on she would ask me to do little task every now and then. Below is a photo of Shiona looking amazing as always. If you don't know who this women is, then you can't sit with us.

Along side Shiona is her bestie Rajni Jacques who is the Fashion News Editor at Glamour Magazine. I'm kind of obsessed with her lol I've been thinking about applying for a fashion news internship and who knows maybe I'll be her intern one day soon! (*I wish!!!)

Rajni 

On my last day as a Teen Vogue intern Shiona signed my Teen Vogue Handbook after I made her her own page. I read this page whenever I'm feeling down or need a reminder to never give up!

Next is Shiona's old Accessories Market Assistant Adet Samuel. Adet hired me and for that I will always be thankful. She was another person who I often helped in the office and because I was so helpful when she decided to leave Teen Vogue and begin her dream job as a Stylist she asked me to assist her on a photoshoot which I loved! I would love her old job as my starting position in the industry. Look at her, her style is out of this world and her instagram is often where I get some of my outfits inspired from!

Then there's Terrence Phearse. I first met him on Linkedin I know sounds crazy right? But when I came across his profile it couldn't help but write him and tell him how much of an inspiration he is. He's had about 10 internships he's been everywhere I've been and more. When I found out he was going to be my boss at my current internship I was ecstatic. Working with him is like having a big brother in the office who looks out for me and who's not afraid to tell me when I messed up. He teaches me so many things whether he knows it or not. 

I haven't directly come across many African American people in fashion though I know a lot of them by name and word of mouth. These 4 are spiritual mentors. Watching them makes me want this so much more and seeing them where they are lets me know that I will one day be there too!

Xx

Accessory Intern

Which Bus Stops Here?

When I saw the below photo on tumblr I had to save it. It really spoke to me being as though I'm a full time intern and student and part time sales associate with rent and other bills. With living in New York I haven't really got to love the city yet being as though I've been worried about money and school. I take a big hit with interning(working for free) I mean I'm not complaining because it's my choice to do so but I mean come on lol we're out here struggling. Not all of us have our parents to fall back on. So with all that being said yes "I CAN'T AFFORD TO LOVE NEW YORK" maybe after I graduate and get that fashion job I've been longing for and making salary I can start to love the city like I'm suppose to lol. I know this may sound like complaining but I'm not I love interning but I cannot wait until I can actually have fun and only worry about calling in accessories!

I mean! This photo is everything lol I have to have this bag this summer while I'm interning at a Pr firm. 

Xx

Accessory Intern

Insta' Moments

Hey guys I know I've been gone for a while now but I've been so busy with interning and school and work on weekends that I haven't had the time to update and share how good things are going with you guys. Well first off things at the magazine are going great! Each day I'm given more and more responsibility. Last week I was given the task of doing our accessories market assistants expenses, me and expenses are old friends lol but the way I did them before while interning for Hearst is way different than doing them at Conde Nast so it was challenging but fun.

Below are a few instagramed photos of a few of my days, they're flying by so quickly.

We cleaned out our sunglass holder drawer and I snagged a Tom Ford sunglass case that I'm now using as an accessory box. I store all earrings, bracelets and other small accessories inside of it. Also I got this McQueen sunglass case that I'm just going to use as decoration lol it'll look nice on my sunglass shelf. The bracelet was a gift from my Senior Accessories Editor. She said she thought of me because I always wear jewelry lol I love it she is such a nice women!

This is my view everyday. I took this photo when I was on my way into the office at around 7am for a intern meeting we were having. My lovely boss got us fruit, muffins and croissants for breakfast it was delish!

Early morning cab rides taking a few last minuet accessories and ready to wear to set.

After a long day of interning we come out of the office to snow and me being from California I love playing in it lol

Snow/Rain = slush ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :/

So those are my instamoments thus far. I know I wish I could share more in depth with you all but I can't disclose too much it's against the rules lol sorry!

Xx

Accessory Intern