First, you get "homework" where you have to choose 5 items based on a client profile they send you before the interview through Pinterest.
I entered the Austin office and signed in. A few minutes later a woman approached myself and another applicant to move us to a table to sign into the office wifi via our laptops. We had to create a document with information that we would send to an actual client based on our homework choices.
I finished and was promptly lead around the entire office by a young woman. She had no idea where I was supposed to interview. Looking around the office, I noticed that everyone working there was dressed rather poorly. I saw a lot of clothing that did not fit properly, had stains, wrinkles and they thought wearing a hat was super cool (you know, wearing a hat INSIDE a professional environment...what?). My "guide" finally figured out where I was to be interviewed and took me back towards the front of the office. She was beyond confused. Not a great first impression.
I was interviewed by two lead stylists. Upon entering the office, I had to do a double take because I thought there was no way these were lead stylists. Again, one of the stylists was wearing an over sized black hat. She had a drab, baggy, brown t-shirt that was wrinkled and was covered in what looked like grease or sweat stains. It looked like she had rolled out of bed and threw on whatever was on the floor. It was not a good first impression of the "lead" stylists. The other interviewer was dressed nicely in a silk blouse and cute earrings which was refreshing considering the rest of the employees. I thought maybe there was hope...
They asked me several questions about my background and why I was interested in the job. Then I was tested when they asked me to describe and style three pieces of clothing on a rack in the office. Again, I had to do a double take because the clothing was so ugly. One piece was an extremely over sized plain grey sweater, the other was a fuchsia print dress that hurt my eyes to look at and the last was a skirt with a floral print that looked more like haphazard paint splotches. I wondered if these were actual Stitch Fix pieces. If so, wow...they need new designers. None of those pieces were very stylish, they were plain and unimpressive. I was really hoping we were going to be working with pieces that were more stylish.
It was a challenge to try to describe and categorize the clothing. I did my best by talking about what jewelry, shoes, pants, etc. I would pair with it. I thought my ideas were pretty great since I was trying to add color to drab pieces and play down the color of the bright fuchsia dress since it was so overwhelming. But obviously the girl in the over sized hat and greasy shirt wasn't impressed and neither was the other stylist.
I did not get the job. Reading Glassdoor interviews, I noticed that people with degrees or experience in the fashion industry were turned down by the company. A friend of mine told me her friend from college applied and was interviewed. She has ten years in fashion merchandising and was turned down for a simple stylist position. I have NO IDEA what these people expect. As mentioned above, seeing the way the office staff were dressed and the ugly test clothing made me realize that I was way too creative and high fashion to work at Stitch Fix.
