Here at Zappos, we love our vendors!

The KY Content team was especially lucky when Jose Andrade, Visual Coordinator-America for Vivienne Westwood, stopped by to share some knowledge with the team.  Check out what Zappos Stylist Gar-Ye had to say about her day of Pursuing Growth and Learning with Jose!
 
Z: What was the most fun part about working with the Jose from Vivienne?
G: Typically when shooting inventory I will pair the new item with a non-inventory piece (basics that we have in the bays all the time).  In anticipation of Jose’s visit, we pulled all of our Vivienne Westwood inventory, new and old, to have a special shoot where he demonstrated how he styles the items with other pieces in the collection.  His best advice:  Always pair the pieces with the unexpected.  A top may look really dressy, but it’s meant to be worn with jeans; or, try wearing two different plaids together!

Z: What was your favorite piece he highlighted?
G: I’m partial to dresses, so I really love Vivienne’s Temperance dress.  It is so simple in color, and is simple in design, but the construction/draping of the dress is extremely complicated.  There are so many ways to interpret where the fabric should be tied in a knot or loose and flowing.

Z: What was the most interesting tip he gave you about styling/presentation?
G: Vivienne Westwood pieces tend to have a lot of folds and tucks in them, so often times when pieces come in, it looks like it has flaps all over it.  He showed us a simple way to figure these flaps out.

Z: If you dressed Vivienne Westwood for Halloween, what costume would you put her in?
G: I would dress her up as the Queen of Hearts from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland!  Vivienne Westwood has that awesome red hair and attitude (in terms of spunk) to match.  Or go completely in the opposite direction and make her the quintessential Stepford wife just because it's not her at all.

Z: Where did you take Jose while he was here in Kentucky?
G: We took him to Ramsi’s Café on the World for dinner and drinks.  He had duck mole and a glass of wine!  YUM YUM YUM!

Last night, myself, the photographer heading up the Gala (Abby), and our assistants set up for our art show. We were cutting wires + strings, twisting, tying, hooking, taping and labeling 41 pieces! Once everything was prepared, they had to be displayed on a table, mannequin or in the air without putting anything on the walls!! Eight glorious hours later we had our beautiful presentation ready for the public.

The Gala is a small representation of what the KY Content Team ( which includes both Photo and Imaging Departments) can create in their spare time. We had submissions ranging from paintings + photographs to three dementional pieces such as sculptures and a handmade designer dress!

Our official show opening was today at 3:30, made complete with catered snacks from Lady Fingers Catering, some jazz music, and the rest of the team joining us. The show was a raging success!!

Our hard work payed off and everyone had a great time. Winners will be announced later this month.

For any KY employees reading, and any Vegas employees visiting Kentucky right now, the show will be open until May 9th, so please swing by the training room and take a look at our creations. All we ask is that you please not touch any of the submitted pieces.

ENJOY!

As most of the world knows, the Kentucky Derby is a HUGE deal for KY. Each year, from the kick-off at “ Thunder over Louisville “ to the “ Chow Wagon “ and “ Hot Air Balloon Race “ and all the way to the main event, the actual Derby race, the entire city is in celebration.

Here at Zappos we are no different, having our own mini-version of several events.We spend an entire night dedicated to the festivities. Having some “ Kentucky HotBrown “ for dinner, with our supervisors and managers serving nachos and cotton candy to the team, followed by our own horse racing (actually hopping), a horse decorating contest, AND a Derby Hat contest!

Each department and shift received a stenciled foam-core horse to cut out and deck-out for display by our break-room. Night shift photo department took an hour of our friday night to enjoy some pizza dinner and decorate our horse.

We decided to focus our horse in the direction of two fashionable and flashy brands, Ed Hardy and Betsy Johnson . All complete with an actual Betsey Johnson jockey and finished off with a pair of New Balance running shoes to win the race. We are very proud of our “Zappotariat” A.K.A. “Betsy Hardy”.

Hello world!

This is my first Zappos blog entry, and I am excited to be introducing myself and the photo department to the rest of you, inside, and outside the company. My mission here is to give your hungry eyes a feast of photo department fun. We are a very active group of creative people not only looking to please our vendors and customers, but have a lot of fun in the process.

The core values are held in high regards in our studios. I have been with the company for about 3 years myself, and I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else. As I post more blogs, and you read further, I think you will understand why we all love it so much! ( As if all the other bloggers haven’t given you enough reason already!)

Be looking for our department “quotes out of context“ (coming soon) for a good laugh!