My School Rocks! 2014-04 Arlene Goldstein | Page 28

Goldstein shows forcast materials to Ashley, Shayna and Ava.

Responses have been edited for
brevity. Ashley C. contributed to
the reporting.

someone who wants to pursue a
career in fashion?

only fashion events, but other
events as well. I would say that my
job went from the sublime to the
ridiculous. I went from Oscar de la
Renta’s visit to Peter Rabbit’s visit.
So, I did all of it.

AG: Get out there and start doing

Shayna: How does one go about

Ava: What advice would you give

things. We’re all a composite
of everything we experience,
everything we touch, we feel,
we hear, we see. The more
experiences you can have,
regardless of what you want to
do, the better equipped you’ll
be to do that job. And then you’ll
also find out, do I really want
to do this? To get paid to do
something you love is the ultimate
success.

Shayna: What were some

challenges you faced while
working to become an executive?

AG: You always had to multitask

and you had to have so many balls
in the air. You could never finish a
task and then start the next one.
But, I think that’s what makes the
job so interesting. I started out
planning events, not
28 – My School Rocks! | April 2014

directing trends?

AG: I have this crystal ball, and

I look in the crystal ball every
morning. You know I’m teasing,
right? Well, fashion is not
revolutionary. We don’t wake up
one morning and everybody’s
wearing pink — although I think
you’re going to see that there’s
a lot of pink in the next few
seasons. It’s an evolutionary
process. What’s hinted at one
season might become full blown
the next season. So, I’m out there
always looking, reading and on
the Internet, checking out the
scene. What are the fashionistas
wearing? Now we have so many
bloggers who are influencing
fashion and influencing even
major designers. So, I’m a
gatherer of information. I’m just
looking for the next new thing.

Looking a Year Ahead
Goldstein works roughly a year
ahead on fashion trends. When
we met with her in February, for
example, she was working on
Spring 2015. Spring 2014 had
already been “put to bed,” or
finished, and she was completing
Fall 2014.
She told us her job
entails creating
forecast materials and
then delivering big,
internal presentations
on women’s clothing,
men’s clothing and
shoes. After that,
she travels with
Belk’s buyers