Kylie Nelson Hawken Project 2023

What inspired me to create this project was my curiosity about the fashion industry. One part I haven't really had experience with and have very little knowledge about is how to run a fashion-related business. Initially, my idea for this project was to learn the process of how to run a boutique and gain knowledge that would help me with my future career and education. Since everyone who works at Océanne was able to step into a leadership role at some point, the quality of my mentorship was really good. My mentor (Marina) herself was a huge help but it felt like everyone was able to mentor me in their role. Each person plays such a different part in the business that one person wouldn't have been able to show me everything Océanne has to offer. One aspect I loved about my mentor, and the overall team, was how everyone was friends, making it a comfortable atmosphere. During team meetings, people would buy each other coffee and baked goods. Since there aren't a large number of...

Another thing that I have done this week is help Oceanne improve its inventory, mainly at the Pinecrest location. The way Oceanne’s inventory was set up was a little confusing to me. At the Gordon Square location, there wasn't enough room for all of their Gordon Square products. The majority of them were held at the Pinecrest location. So when trying to find something in their system, it might say your t-shirt is at Gordon Square. Although in reality, it is at Pinecrest, but on a shelf that says, "Gordon Square." This then would require one of the managers to go to the second location and bring the item back. I asked one of the managers why they couldn't just consider all of the inventory at Pinecrest part of the Pinecrest inventory. We looked into it and she figured that might be better. So after consulting the Gordon Square location, we worked on fixing the inventory space to be one whole collection. During this time, we also worked on cleaning and reorganizing a la...

This week I talked to Anne Harrill about how she founded Oc é anne. Anne explained to me how she came from France to Cleveland in her early 20s. This was a difficult time for her because she had a lot of culture shock and felt she was treated differently from others. Based on these events she had to try and find herself. During this time, she went back to France for Christmas and learned how to make jewelry from her mom. When she returned to Cleveland, she continue to make jewelry as this was a connection to her mom. This made her feel close to home in a new place. A few years later she started doing jewelry shows to display her work and to make some extra money since her husband was just starting a nonprofit. She wasn’t able to get a job anywhere because of her new baby. As her business became more successful she rented a shared space with some friends so she could have her own studio.  She started to expand her work/designs into T-shirts. Every time she expanded into things beyon...

  One thing that I've been really interested in throughout this process is been how Oc é anne markets its products. I was able to talk to Oc é anne's s ocial media manager about how they do this. She said they mainly use Instagram and TikTok to advertise their products. Although she mostly focuses on Instagram since they have a larger following on that platform.  I was able to help her by modeling and photographing the products. I tried on some of the clothes, jewelry, and bags that are sold in the stores. Oceanne’s social media manager said she likes to film a lot of content at once. This makes it a lot easier on her end since they like to post every day.  When trying to figure out what to photograph, we looked through Instagram to see what products have not been shown recently. We also tried to find new ways to capture these products. We had to get creative to overcome some obstacles like advertising the forever bracelets. I wasn't able to actually wear a forever bracel...

One thing that I've been doing for my project is helping with wholesale orders. These orders are made by other companies from Océanne in high quantities and at lower prices.  The person who helped me through this process was the social media manager/wholesale manager at Océanne. She printed out an order sheet containing all the information needed as these orders came in. Then she added their name to it on a Google sheet so she can easily track when the orders are due and when they were fulfilled. When it was time to work on an order, we took the order sheets to the back where inventory is kept and marked off each product/the amount ordered. Once we grabbed these orders, we placed them on the small nails sticking out of the wall to sort and store them until it was time to ship.   Each of these orders was divided up by stickers with the buyer’s name on them. Once in order was completely filled we would add a green smiley face sticker to the top, this meant it was ready to b...

  So far over my four days at Oc éanne, I have been able to accomplish a lot. On the creative side, I have helped to create jewelry that is currently being sold in the store. One of Océanne's jewelers taught me how to make birthstone necklaces and I ended up making a whole set of them. During this process, the problem I came across was that I kept mixing up the birthstones. I didn't realize till I had four March necklaces when I only needed one. This showed me I needed to make sure to stay organized in these processes. I also learned how to stamp words onto a golden metal material. Oc éanne uses this technique on bookmarks, charms, or even bracelets. It was a lot more difficult than I expected since you need to place stamps evenly and hold them down flat for every letter. A lot of this struggle came from a clear piece of film being on the material though. So far making jewelry has been my favorite part of my Hawken project at Oc éanne. Going into this project I wanted to under...

  This week at Oc é anne I have learned how to make a “forever bracelet”. This is a bracelet that is welded around your wrist and can't be taken off unless it is cut. The process of making a forever bracelet starts by choosing the style and material of the chain. After this, you will need to find the chain length that is most comfortable. You at least want to fit your finger into the bracelet or it can get too tight and cut off circulation. This is why the length this important. The jeweler who is applying these allows you to try different styles and lengths to make sure you will like the bracelet since you won't be able to take it off like a regular bracelet. Once you have done this the jeweler adds a jump hook to both sides of the chain and welds it together. This permanence of this bracelet is what makes it a “forever bracelet”. Although it isn't really forever since you can take it off easily such as with a pair of scissors.  From what I have seen so far in Oc é anne, t...

     For my Hawken Project, I will be interning at Oceanne. Oceanne is a boutique in Pinecrest and Gordon Square that mainly sells minimalistic jewelry. During the course of my project, I will mainly be assisting at the Gordon Square location since this is where the main projects and events are located. During these three weeks, I will be learning about the fashion industry, how to run a business, and assisting the company where it is needed. I think an impactful part of this project will be working with the founder/owner of the company as well as the Gordon Square manager. I think this project will be extremely valuable to me since I will be a fashion design major at Kent State University next year. Hopefully from this project, I can gain knowledge and contacts in the industry that will benefit me in the future.      My love for fashion and interest in the fashion industry inspired me to do this project. I have always loved fashion, so I hope to gain ...