Leben & Leute
From Luesen to Louis Vuitton LONDON/LUESEN (mh) It is not common practice for a 21 year old person without a university degree or relevant work experience to land such a position. But Eva Hinteregger from Luesen has managed just that. Today the tenacious lady is an event“s assistant in Louis Vuitton“s London office. “I am still a long way from achieving my end goal“. Ms Hinteregger, is your Job at Louis Vuitton as luxurious as it sounds? Eva Hinteregger: I would say that it is exciting more than anything. I conceive and organise events in Great Britain, Ireland and South Africa for Louis Vuitton. Less in the line of glittering parties and more in the line of exclusive and refined events such as champagne tastings with private shopping or visits to museums where collections are being presented. Here only 20 to 40 important clients who are willing to invest get invited. Each of them has a personal advisor to tend to them, and amongst my duties, one of them would be to look after these major clients in situ and to ensure that they enjoy a wonderful event.
Eva Hinteregger from Luesen
Who are these major clients? They are both British as well as tourists primarily from Dubai, Russia and Asia. They come with the intention of purchasing and have already invested a lot of money in order to even be eligible to be counted as one of the big clients and to profit from the exclusive services on of-
fer. And of course, then there are the even bigger events where new collections get launched and lots of stars and bloggers are present. Only two years ago she was still at school at the Hotel and Catering school Kaiserhof. So how does it come to pass that you land such a job? For the past year I have been studying Fashion-Business, - Media and Design at the College of Fashion in London. And when I saw an advertisement for a one year position as an event“s assistant, I applied immediately. Unfortunately I was turned down as I had neither a university degree nor any relevant experience in the area of high-fashion. But I never gave up and proceeded to an interview for a six month position as a private client advisor at LV. Here I emphasised over and over again how I loved to organise events and that I grew up in a four star hotel in Luesen and know how to handle luxury clients. Because I was clearly so enthusiastic, the person interviewing me introduced me to the office event“s manager. She offered me the opportunity to help out for two weeks. So I rolled up my sleeves and worked flat out to the extent that in August she chose me as opposed to the candidate who was actually destined to be given the role. I almost did cartwheels . How does one imagine their daily working day? It has nothing to do with the movie “The devil wears Prada“. Quite the opposite actually. We have got a small team. Everybody is treated as equals, regardless of which position they have within the company.. My job begins at 9.30 and ends at about 6. Sometimes we also have evening events and trips to Manchester, Dublin or Birmingham. Flexibility is important, as is team spirit. We like to eat lunch together, on top of that LV offers yoga courses for employees. In addition to this I am studying at university part-time. My course takes place in the evening so it“s
perfectly designed for people to keept up with their full time jobs. Do you work for free? There are hundreds of people who want to have this job and would work for free only to have LV on their CV further down the line. That is also the norm in the first year of work with many of the luxury labels. To be honest with you I would have also done this job without pay, but today I am happy that I earn my own bread. That conveys respect and motivates you to give your level best each and every day. What made you so convincing? I think you need to be open and friendly, you“d need to like networking and be able to adapt to situations. Regardless of where I am I try to leave behind a good impression and to remain authentic. When I was 14 I started the fashion blog “Thespiritoffashion“ and after graduating from high school I went travelling the world for one year. You need to have the courage to be different and true to youself and you can achieve whatever you want. That differentiates me. Where does your affinity to fashion stem from? As a child I was uninterested in clothing, i was a bit of a tomboy and would never have paraded in front of the mirror with my mother“s high heeled shoes. Au cont-
Eva Hinteregger ... ... is 21 years old and grew up in the family hotel Sonnwies in Luesen. After graduating from the hotel and catering school she undertook a one year world trip before she began her Fashion and Business degree course in London. Since June she has been working as an event“s assistant at Louis Vuitton.
raire. It was only as a young adult that I became interested in fashion. I thank my decision to embark upon the fashion area to my last job at Oberrauch Zitt in Bolzano. With lots of patience the workers there taught me an amazing amount. Without them I would not today be where I am.
Is there a code of dress in your office? No, business attire is sufficient. But for events we can take a lend of clothes and bags from LV in order to further advertise the label.
Eva's London-Style
length jeans. Then a trenchcoat with large belt and my baker- boy hat. Not to forget the cat eye vintage glasses and sock boots. I absolutely love going shopping in vintage shops and have also found branded ware in these shops as bargains too. How do you finance your life in London? With my salary, and my parents support me with the high rental costs, because the cost of living is extremely high in London. I sometimes wonder how families here make ends meet.
What do you wear now in London“s fashionable autumn? The absolute must-haves are my black turtleneck with wide floor
You are living your dream job. Have you still got goals?
What made you go to London
Eva Hinteregger in her office
I still have a long way to go in terms of my goals. I would still like to gain experience at other luxury labels and after graduating from university I would like to go to Australia. But every day, new doors are being opened for me. Who knows. Maybe my future will be a lot different. I am not going to nail myself to the cross, and would eventually like to return to South Tyrol.
and not to Milan or somewhere else? London is much more international. As well as that, at 21 in Milan in my wildest dreams I would never have gotten such a job. In Italy it is much more about titles.
PRIVAT
Her office is in London but her workplace is throughout the whole world. Eva Hinteregger (21) from Luesen works as an event“s assistant with the luxurious French label Louis Vuitton. And it is a job that she would have done unremunerated according to the student and hotelier“s daughter in an interview with the newspaper “Zett“.
22. Oktober 2017 | 19
Eva with Olivia Palermo at the London Fashion Week
PRIVAT
Leben & Leute
PRIVAT
18 | 22. Oktober 2017
What is it like where you live? I live in a quiet part of the city Little Venice in a shared flat with Iona (British) and Amelie (South Tyrolean-French). They both work as well in the fashion industry, so you can probably imagine how hectic our lifestyles can be. We could nearly record the third series of Sex and the City (laughs). In our leisure time we like to jog or head into the city. London is really beautiful, but I return home three times a year to Luesen – the next time will be at Christmas.