Student Spotlight: Miles Talley

Published April 22, 2020

Meet Miles Talley, a fashion merchandising major, who is busy making masks for his friends and family working on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also encouraged his internship site, Rhude, to get involved. Now, the high-end fashion company is in production making masks for healthcare workers.  

I intern for the fashion company Rhude, which is based in LA. Rhude is a high-end designer label that specializes in creating menswear and womenswear that mixes streetwear essentials with luxury elements.

My main focus is in production. I help in the process of guiding our garments from design to finished product, so it is ready for consumers. And as a fashion merchandising major, I also take on some merchandising duties as well, and whatever else needs attention around the office.

When I first heard about COVID-19 reaching the US, I immediately knew that I wanted to start sewing masks on my own. However, with school, work, and my internship, I had little time to work on projects for myself. Now that we have orders to shelter in place, I am actually glad that I have had time to work on projects for myself that I wouldn’t have had time for otherwise. 

So far, I have mainly been making masks for my family, friends, and anyone I know personally that is on the front lines of battling the virus. This includes grocery workers, nurses, and other individuals that are essential workers. They are definitely the people that deserve our help and appreciation the most.

We are currently in the production of face masks at Rhude. They are still in the early stages of production, but we are planning to donate the masks that are made to healthcare workers in the US. We’re glad to not only be helping these workers but to help bring jobs and orders to our factory sewers here in LA. Our sewers are one of our top priorities as a company, and for us to give them mask orders helps them keep an income during this troubling time.

 

Unfortunately, it has put my internship on hold, and our offices have temporarily closed while we await orders from the city of Los Angeles to resume business. Overall, the virus isn’t just affecting us as a company, it’s also affecting the buyers from department stores and boutiques to be very cautious when buying into the next few seasons for all brands. In addition, Paris Fashion Week in June has been canceled which was the main outlet for brands to have a fashion show, a showroom, and show our buyers the latest collection. Now that this event has been canceled, it will be interesting to see how the entire industry will show their collections for next year, and ultimately generate sales.