Wirral fashion graduate lands dream job with Abercrombie & Fitch

As sexy American imports go, they don’t come much bigger or more attractive than fashion giant Abercrombie & Fitch.

Known for its provocative billboard campaigns and its dimly lit, club-style shops, the A&F brand is now a phenomenon on both sides of the Atlantic.

So to land a job with the retailer, which has more than 1,000 stores around the world, would be a career coup for any designer.

Laura Mees-Harris, though, had claimed a coveted role with the company before she’d even graduated.

Now, just two months after leaving university, the 23-year-old from Meols in Wirral is preparing to jet off to A&F’s Ohio base to take up a job as an assistant designer.

Although, she admits, it’s all happened so fast she’s still feeling shell-shocked by the offer.

The opportunity of a lifetime came about while Laura was in her third year at Northumbria University in Newcastle studying fashion design.

Having decided to focus on menswear, the former West Kirby Grammar girl was one of a around 100 students invited to take part in a Back to School project set by Abercrombie.

“They came to the university in the summer to scout and we were asked to design an autumn collection, four full outfits, by the following February,” she explains.

“The idea was to take their brand and their identity, which is really strong and important to them, and make it a bit different. They briefed us about what they were after and they came in two or three times before the end of the project to point us in the right direction and make suggestions.

“Then in February they came back to look at everyone’s work and they chose about 40 of us to interview. I tried not to put all my hopes on it because it’s so easy to get heartbroken, and with fashion you have to learn to stay strong because obviously some people will like your work and some won’t.”

The A&F recruiters were clearly impressed, though, and two weeks later Laura was told she was one of those selected to fly out to American to be interviewed.

“When they put up the list of who they wanted, I couldn’t believe it,” she says, “because there were so many talented people on the course.”

Source: Dawn Collinson, Liverpoolecho.co.uk, Wednesday 31st August 2011