In the Summer of 2019, I had the privilege of interning at The Natori Company as a sleepwear intern for the Natori brand. My supervisor was Yuki Okamoto and I also worked closely with Assistant Designer, Elise Schliffka. My responsibilities in included, updating digital and physical presentation materials, updating tech packs, researching design details for the next season, attending trade shows, taking notes in meetings and other miscellaneous activities.  I am truly grateful for the guidance and assistance from Yuki Okamoto and Elise Schliffka. I could not be happier with my experience as a sleepwear design intern. I learned so much about lingerie design and how to work in a collaborative design setting. These experiences prepared me to begin my career as a designer.

I was also asked to lead the development for the bridal accessories collection for Natori Spring 2020. With the assistance and direction from my supervisor, I worked closely with the seamstresses in house to develop a lingerie bag, eye mask, and garter. We used their brand standard of a charmeuse with their matching lace standard. This was combined using a lace embroidery technique in which I engineered the placement. I used a scanned repeat of the lace to digitally place the lace onto the pattern pieces. I then designated the stitching line and instructed the embroidery specialist to make samples. This design process took several weeks and was in addition to my other work. It was so exciting to see the samples once they were done and to hear that they had been booked at market, when we had previously thought they would be an online only item.

I also was instrumental in the print development for the Natori Fall 2020 season. At the end of my internship I was creating sample prints as well as pitching print styles. Print was a very important thing at Natori, and it was very exciting to see the very detailed process their prints undergo. I was very excited to hear positive feedback from my supervisor and the team about my ideas and my thoughts on the print direction.

At end of my internship I was also involved in the style and silhouette research for Natori Fall 2020. It was very exciting to be involved in researching styles and then sketching them for the team. I received a lot of good feedback about the quality of my research and the translation of that in my sketching. I found this environment to be very exciting as it is very collaborative and experimental. I was also given the opportunity to direct the seamstresses and patternmaker to making samples of my research and ideas.