My Interview with Ed Filipowski

He wears Gucci Bumblebee boots. He carries a Maison Margiela bag with a peacoat of the same name. Casual yet sharp with his YSL denim. He is Ed Filipowski, and his favorite designers to wear are also his clients. He is the co-chairman of the leading fashion media relations, event production and digital agency worldwide, KCD. Ed Filipowski, our very own FASHION MAN, will be back on campus this fall co-chairing the Class of 1983 35th reunion and visiting us at again at Medill.

When I sat down with the Northwestern alum, I wanted to know about the one subject on every student’s mind right now. Summer internships. The first thing Ed told me— and I hope I can call him by his first name since we’re clearly close, personal friends now— was that any advice he might give me would be in the context of his own company, where fortunately most people would die to work. Just like exclusive clubs, college applications, and most relationships, companies want to know that they are your first choice. “When I am looking to hire somebody, and I have somebody who sits there and says, ‘I want to work in your company more than any place in the world,’ that is a door opener.” If choosing between two applicants of equal merit, they want the applicant that wants them most. Not to suggest that everyone should tell every job they apply for that they would kill to work there, but Filipowski advises that “when you’re looking for an internship, don’t go wide, go narrow, and pick the places that truly are desirable to you.”

“The places that are number one.”

Back before he was the co-chairman of the leading fashion services agency worldwide— and KCD was called Keeble Cavaco & Duka— Ed Filipowski paid the bills working for an advertising agency in New York City, living off of pizza slices and prospective job offers from email conversations with older Northwestern graduates in the area. An apostle of his own advice, Filipowski knew where he really wanted to work, and he went right for it. In 1985, Keeble Cavaco & Duka landed the new and upscale, pioneer of boutique stores on the Upper West Side of Manhattan— Charivari. The young Filipowski in his early 20s, having read about KCD’s acquisition of Charivari as a client, sent Kezia Keeble, the founder of KCD, a bouquet of flowers inside one of the iconic Charivari store bags with a note congratulating the magnate on her success and requesting to meet with her. Luckily for Ed, soon after his gift was delivered, Kezia responded by phone that he happened to have picked her favorite flowers, and so she would have to meet with him. Within their first meeting, Filipowski professed his desire to work at KCD, and got himself a formal interview. Almost 35 years later, Ed Filipowski runs the show, a co-chairman of the company with Julie Mannion.

While this story first and foremost shows the clearly impressive and unparalleled perks of a Northwestern degree— in a completely unbiased way of course— it also shows how decisiveness and an eye for opportunity are imperative. However, the difficulty, which most undergraduate applicants soon realize, is that internships are not only a student opportunity. “There are many people out of college who are looking for internships as well, who don’t have their first jobs yet, so it is a very competitive field.” For internships in the fashion industry specifically, there is a whole other set of criteria that employers look for in their incredibly well-accessorized applicant pool. Not only do you have to look the part on paper, on your résumé, but in the flesh as well— or preferably in a Versace Spring 2018 pantsuit. Imagine how quickly you would ace your interview in one of these.

But, whether you purchase your interview attire from Forever 21 or Versace, Filipowski insists that to be a good fashion intern, you must love the clothes. “Somehow, in whatever you are doing in the fashion environment, make it obvious that you love clothes, and that you are interested in clothing.” Filipowski adds that loving clothes doesn’t even necessarily mean wearing the most expensive pieces. Tenured employees at KCD wear off the runway brands like Zara and H&M on occasion because it’s not about the price tag, it’s about style.

“When that Alexander Mcqueen dress comes in, when that Givenchy gown comes in, when that Tory Burch bag comes in, show that you are just in awe of it.”

According to Filipowski, fashion is about “tribes.” When you go into an office in the fashion industry, people dress a certain way based on where they work or what magazine they are with or what photographer they work for. “It’s about tribes, and tribes dress in certain ways.” At KCD, Filipowski describes how there is a casual stylishness around the office— one that is not forced or too polished, but just good style. The distinction is, however, that the “tribe” dress code is not about dressing well or not well— except, maybe, in the case of the Google office down the road. But rather, it is about the collective look. “When you go in for your interview, notice what the people are wearing, notice how they dress. Are they wearing jeans with a simple chic sweater? Are they wearing monochromatic? Are they wearing tailored clothing? Well, it depends on where you are working. Clock that in your interview, and go in the first day dressed like that.”

“My advice is the sooner you get into a tribe, the sooner you belong, so you have to clue into that.”

However, as crucial as the application process itself is, what happens once you’ve actually gotten the internship? Gotten into the tribe? How do you show your employers that you are as good an intern in theory as you are in practice? “You have to have a voice.” Any serious writer, or even an amateur college student writing for her local fashion magazine, knows that the authorial voice is of absolute importance. But, even for an editorial intern, having a distinct voice in your writing is still not as important as your literal voice in the office. Although it may be slightly frightening to approach the co-chairman of the company with your questions, having the courage to speak and to ask to meet with people makes all the difference during your internship, according to Filipowski.

“Use your voice. Have a voice.”

I hope I can find my Charivari bag, and also, go ‘Cats.