How I got rejected from every job interview I had & still got my first dream fashion job at #MISSONI

Having my master’s degree in my pocket, Istituto Marangoni got us freshly baked designers some lifetime opportunity interviews at top fashion houses- such as Etro, Jil Sander, Dirk Bikkembergs… I went to a few. AAAaaaaanndddd…of course I got shit. Some were cool enough to drop an e-mail that they picked someone else, but usually, I didn’t hear back. Honestly, I can’t blame them- if I interviewed myself back then I would have probably lost interest in myself after 2 seconds. I probably looked like a sick chicken about to shit myself. I was NOT CONFIDENT AT ALL.

My portfolio – when I look at it now- was too messy, I didn’t have a „real direction”, you couldn’t tell it was „made by Molto”. It was just a book of nice designs with no leitmotif. „A lack of DNA” one would say. BUT I DID HAVE THIS DNA, I felt this urge to craft and build and design and produce things since my early childhood. I knew it was there I just didn’t have the tools to present it to random people, I was not bold and loud enough in an official surrounding like a job interview.

Working on my master thesis for Louis Vuitton I got into a wild beading-phase, I made mini geckos from beads to relax. I got into the art of beading very early, I was 6 or 7 years old. I made structures from glass beads, from animals over bracelets to little sculptures. I turned myself into a beading engineer over the years, for real. I had on and off phases but it was always with me through my whole life, BEADS BEADS BEADS. When things got heated up, beading would get my mind off stressful shit and I was handing out talismans to my friends and family ( win-win haha).

So, the job-interview part after getting my Fashion Diploma did not go so well. The party and socializing part on the other hand- that went very well. When you study fashion in Milan you just get sucked into the whole fashion week partying vibe. If you want to be part of it, you naturally just are part of it. I don’t remember what party it was but I vividly remember the dusty powderish juicy atmosphere, thick theatrical velvet curtains, and this mind-blowing ceiling at Hotel Principe di Savoia when Walid Altewai introduced me to Mayur Ghadialy. This guy had a huge necklace around his neck, FULL of little pendants. I felt magically drawn to this necklace. Esquire Magazine too, apparently:

Esquire wrote about Mayurs pendants – my Gecko right in the middle ?

I gave Mayur my own magical Mini Gecko I was wearing that night and probably said something romantic like „ I want you to hold and carry a piece of my art forever”. Honestly – I don’t remember what I said but I do remember how I freaked out when he reached out to me after 2 weeks and asked me to make 300 Mini geckos for Missonis’ upcoming Fashion Show at Milan Fashion Week!

Missoni wanted to attach my geckos to Press Packs each guest would find at their seat during the event. The closer the Show was the more geckos they wanted ..400, 500, 550 and then the night before the show additional 50…

I spent weeks making these little motherfuckers by hand. My fingers were literally bleeding but I pulled it off with help from friends. Even my boyfriend’s Mom and Sisters would help me beading every night (THANK YOU SO MUCH ?).

Today I cannot imagine doing even 20 in one day but I was so so determined.. and seeing important fashion people like Anna Dello Russo ? holding my geckos in their hands at the show was SO fulfilling.

Preparations for the show & Anna dello Russo posing for Street Style photographers
Guests tweeting and posting my Missoni Geckos on Social media.
Vogue, L’Officiel, Wonderland & of course mighty Chaka:

Half a year went by and I got asked to do some accessories for the upcoming fashion week. The inspiration was West Africa so I made little Monkeys for the Presspacks and beaded necklaces with compasses in mini Missoni-sacks:

After all- I got my dream job after graduating, working as a freelancer for one of the world’s most renowned fashion houses. Managing my work and time by myself was not as easy as I thought it would be. I found myself beading little monkeys nonstop. Might sound trivial and fun but I was physically and mentally busy with this for weeks from AM to PM: through 2 and 8-hour flights, during my Birthday and New Year’s Eve that I spent in the US I was beading NONSTOP.. but I was free to decide for myself when & how long I would work. This feeling of your freelance designs being wanted was so rewarding- once I tasted that – it was clear to me:

I want my own business.

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