Welcome back to our “6 questions” series where we ask someone 6 career-centric questions about themselves.
This week we’re chatting with Montanna Mungal, Production Coordinator at IMG FOCUS.
What’s your job title and what does a typical day look like for you?
My current job title is Production Coordinator at IMG FOCUS, which is the in-house creative production agency within IMG’s fashion division. IMG FOCUS is responsible for bringing you New York Fashion Week: The Shows’ productions every season, and so many more jaw-dropping events in the fashion world!
The fashion industry is very competitive, how did you work your way up to fashion production coordinator two years after graduating?
It’s no secret working in the fashion industry is highly competitive. I’ve known I wanted to work in fashion since before I can even remember. I had a dream at a young age and I didn’t stop until I got there. Hard work and educating yourself are both as important as networking and getting to know people who have the tools to set you up where you belong. It’s really cliché and corny, but everything really does happen for a reason and you always end up where you’re meant to, even if it doesn’t make sense in the moment. Every experience and person met leads you to the path you’re destined for.
Being in the fashion industry that is constantly changing, what is you process when making decisions at work? How do you decide what you should and shouldn’t do?
I think this all comes down to experience and having a strong team foundation. I never feel that I’m alone in a decision-making process, because I know I always have a fabulous team to deflect to in times of need. I can never take credit for any sort of amazingness on my own, it’s all the work of a powerful and highly functional team, a well-oiled machine – even if small but mighty! Teamwork makes the dream work, especially in event production.
How has the pandemic changed your industry/ job (if at all)?
Oh man, a trigger question! As could be imagined, the pandemic has cast a shadow on the future of events – especially fashion events – that has forced all event producers alike into a Come to Jesus moment, questioning not only when we will see work again, but also our futures as a whole. What are events going to look like going forward? Will we be completely replaced with a digital scope? Do I even have a future? With the whole basis of our jobs being creating moments for masses of people to come together (while the one thing not permitted is having masses of people come together..), and with bleak insights as to when it all will be permitted again, the first few months of the pandemic were extremely dark, if I’m being blatantly honest. I thought about having to change my career path and steer away from what I know and love and have been working so hard to progress in. I’m so thankful the team I have joined is so progressive, moving and changing with the world around us to adapt, conquer, and prevail in these uncertain times. It’s a learning experience we are all going through together, and I couldn’t have asked for a more incredible team to experience this transition with.
What’s something people wouldn’t know about working in the fashion industry?
I think anyone in the industry can attest – I PROMISE you, it’s not as glamourous as it appears! People in the fashion industry working behind the scenes, like event producers, are the ones who can ultimately take credit for allowing the industry to appear as fab and glam as it comes off on the outside. I consider myself in a relationship with the fashion industry, and though she’s not always kind to me, I still love her regardless.
Advice for someone wanting to work in the fashion industry?
Probably my most asked question. It’s tough, because my mind always wanders back to how I was as a young and curious fashion lover. It’s hard work. Fashion is not really something I believe can be learned or taught, it’s something within you and something you’re born with and possess and have a knack for. And if you have the privilege of being able to go to school for it and hone in on that, then you’re lucky. And if not, it’s not a dealbreaker. Connections are key. Never stop networking, and never lose that curiosity – that passion. If you told me 5 years ago I would be where I am today, I wouldn’t believe you. But at the end of the day, I can accredit many sleepless nights, lots of hard work, nonstop research and learning, some incredible mentors (shoutout Chelsey Wayte), and a passion that you allow to never die.
Learn more about IMG below!
https://imgfocus.com/
https://www.instagram.com/imgfocus/
Montanna is a Toronto-born, Brooklyn-based fashion professional currently boasting the title of Production Coordinator within the Fashion Events department at IMG. With a resume including Prada, Christian Louboutin, and Michael Kors, Montanna is no stranger to the industry. An avid concert-goer pre-covid times, these days you can likely find Montanna neck deep in about 6 books at once, binging a TV series (currently Mrs. America on FX), organizing and reorganizing her apartment (true to her Virgo/Virgo-rising identity), or curating a Spotify playlist – all over a heavy pour of Cabernet.
