The celebrities, the photos, the fashion, the chaos. That’s just a quick recap of Paris Fashion Week. This season, I was able to intern for a French fashion brand VICTORIA/TOMAS during Paris Fashion Week. I interned for two months and the French work culture was difficult to adjust to in the beginning.

A big difference is the concept of time. I realized that the French are always late and being early is never a thing. On my first day of work, I arrived 10 minutes early and was met with shock by my bosses. Meanwhile, my coworker was two hours late on her second day of work, but it was considered nothing out of the ordinary. In France, you also get a one-hour lunch break, and many go out to a restaurant and enjoy a coffee afterward. Another difference I noticed is you are not supposed to work outside of the work hours. This means don’t contact anyone, clients or bosses, during personal time, regardless if it’s just an email.

Working during Paris Fashion Week was quite chaotic as everything is very last minute. Last-minute as in still finishing garments eight hours before the show and trying to hire dressers the night before. Working is also very different than attending or being around Paris Fashion Week. The glamorous aspect is normally masked by stress and the heavy workload in preparation for the show. This means working 17 hours the day before our show, sleeping two hours, and then showing at Paris Fashion Week and working seven hours that day.

However, after all the stress and work, it’s very satisfying seeing your hard work be displayed and enjoyed. After our show, I still continued my internship working in our showroom and emailing buyers, but I was able to enjoy a little bit of Fashion Week. This meant seeing the famous Jean Paul Gaultier or the Eiffel Tower lit up in silver for Saint Laurent. Paris Fashion Week was a dream of mine, and gaining this experience has opened the door for so many opportunities.