From King’s to the Runway: An Interview with Mallory McCurry ’13

Mallory McCurry graduated from King’s in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in Media, Culture, and the Arts. Since then, she’s been fulfilling her dream of working in the fashion industry—a dream shared by many King’s students. McCurry took a few minutes to talk about what she’s been doing and how her King’s degree prepared her for her career.

What have you been up to since graduation?

During my final semester, I interned at Diane von Furstenberg in technical design. Since I graduated, I have been working. I moved home to Atlanta and worked for a small fashion company for a few months. I enjoyed it, but I really missed the city and all of the opportunities available here. I also missed the fast paced environment of a large fashion house.

I know you did something related to fashion for your senior MCA project. How did that help you get ready for working in the industry?

For my senior project, I knew I wanted to do something fashion-related. I had taken classes at FIT, and I wanted to work in the fashion industry. I was expecting to have to defend this project idea, but Dr. Bleattler (who chairs the program in Media, Culture, and the Arts) fully supported me. He helped me finalize my ideas in order to create a project that would best help me get my dream job. For my senior project, I worked on creating a fashion portfolio. Then I brought my designs to life in a final show at the MCA symposium.

Dr. Bleattler was essential in my success! He did not make me defend my out-of-the-box project, but immediately started enabling me to succeed. He set me up with Professor Karelyn Siegler (Visiting Professor of Art and an Assistant Professor at Parsons The New School for Design) as my advisor.

To have a Parsons teacher and extremely talented artist as my advisor was such a blessing. Professor Siegler spent countless hours with me helping me to improve my sketching abilities. She helped me narrow my ideas for my portfolio and taught me what future employees would be looking for. My drawing skills dramatically improved with her one-on-one attention. She also invited me to her class at Parsons to continue to improve my abilities.

However, my improved designs were not my greatest takeaway from my time with Professor Siegler. Most importantly, she taught me how to conduct myself as a Christian artist in a cutthroat industry. She taught me that as artists, we are co-creators with God and what we create should honor him. Also, she taught me that having a positive attitude will set you apart.

Through her connections, Professor Siegler set me up with my internship at DVF. I took these lessons with me into my internship. Even in the most minimal tasks, I remembered Prof. Siegler’s advice. When I was later offered the job, I was told that it was largely in part to my hard work and positive attitude as an intern. If it were not for Dr. Bleattler’s initial support and Professor Siegler’s wise teaching, I would not be where I am today.

What does a typical day look like for you?

My days are always different, and I love it! I work for the Prints and Embellishments department, which is so much fun. A large part of my job is corresponding with overseas factories. I launch new prints—pattern designs, like leopard or floral. I then decide the technique the factory should use to print the design; this differs depending on fabrication (the weight of the fabrications and the tightness of the weave will change printing technique) and color saturation.

The factory will print a small number of yards and send me a 1 yard cutting. I make sure color, hand-feel, and repeat are all correct. I make sure that the color isn’t bleeding and that the print is not mis-registered. We design around 150-200 prints each season. We then work with Diane and our creative director to strike off prints until we have around 50 that we allocate and put into production.

I also calculate/ manage the budget for each season. I maintain print line sheets and print boards that are presented to Sales and big buyers like Nordstrom or Bloomingdales. They will look at boards and decide favorite prints for buying. Because I work with prints I get to work a little with every department. Whenever anyone uses a print, we design it ( I mainly do clothing, but also accessories, PR for any magazine shoots, and so on).

My days are always busy, fast-paced, and different. I get to work with some of the top people in the industry. It is amazing to see pieces that I have worked on in top magazines and walking down the runway during New York Fashion Week. I constantly am amazed that I have my dream job. It is a high stress environment, but I love every minute of it!

What advice would you have for a King’s student interested in working in fashion in the future? What classes, skills, or disciplines would you advise them to learn?

Working in fashion is a lot different than I thought it would be! Although it is highly creative, my business classes at Kings have helped me tremendously. Professor Fotopulos had us all go to an Excel workshop for one of her classes—and I use the skills I learned in that workshop every day. I have to calculate hundreds of thousands of dollars with surcharges and replenishments. If you want to work in fashion, make sure to pay attention in business classes!

How did King’s help get you ready for your job?

One of the greatest things King’s gave me is an ability to present myself well. Through my King’s education, I learned how to write and speak effectively. I am so thankful for this skill. Your designs do not mean nearly as much if you do not have the ability to communicate them effectively.

I am constantly surprised by designers who can not present their Fall 2016 inspiration in front of a large meeting. There are many talented designers out there, and the ability to present your designs and effectively persuade an audience to favor your direction over someone else’s is priceless!

Also, working in fashion is tough. There is a lot of pressure and very long hours. The rigorous academics at King’s taught me how to handle this pressure. In my time at King’s I learned how to handle myself in a professional manner and maintain a positive attitude even in stressful situations. That has been very valuable.