“Every night before I did an internship in fashion, I would watch The Devil Wears Prada,” Sache Taylor told the audience, drawing laughs. On a sunny Thursday morning, ambitious fashion students entered the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Auditorium, eager to hear from Sache Taylor, the director of special events at Vogue. Curiosity and excitement were in the air as students clung to Taylor’s every word like gospel. 

Presented by MPS Fashion Management at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center on Sept. 11, the event was led by Associate Director Emily Huggard, who asked questions about Taylor’s career journey, followed by a Q&A with audience members. The conversation pulled back the curtain on fashion’s glamorous facade, revealing the real effort behind major events and the inner workings of passion, relentless drive, and a sprinkle of luck. 

Her big break at Vogue? It came from a cold email. “I emailed … and Vogue at the time wasn’t taking internships, so they brushed me off. When I graduated [2018] … I emailed the director of special events [Cara Sanders] at the time … I spoke to her over the phone … Later that week, I flew to New York and interviewed in-person, and got the job two days later.” Taylor was then invited to work directly under Anna Wintour as an assistant and spent four years there before returning to produce events. 

“I was deathly scared of graduating and not having a job, and so I made myself the most employable person ever,” she said. Unsure whether she would live in New York or London after college, she sought internships in both places. “I knew I wanted to do events, and KCD was the biggest company that I knew, and I actually harassed them to give me an internship in London.”  Taylor continued: “I made sure my work ethic was par none and no one could compare to me, and that’s why I’m still at Vogue and have grown in the ranks quickly.” 

The audience sat in quiet awe as Taylor’s honesty about her fear of graduating jobless — and her refusal to let anyone outwork her — struck a chord. They realized the ruthless dedication it took to succeed at fashion’s highest level. 

When Taylor was asked about networking effectively and building meaningful connections in the industry, she emphasized authenticity: “You have to do it as genuinely as possible … You shouldn’t be afraid of just emailing people … I got most of my internships in school from cold-emailing.” When a student asked how to actually reach out and build those connections, Taylor didn’t hesitate: schedule coffee chats, Zoom calls, and make it personal.

An MPS Fashion Management student asks Sache Taylor a question. Photo by Ada Chu

During the Q&A, the air shifted as curiosity gave way to something more intimate and vulnerable. One student voiced concerns about feeling underrepresented in an industry that’s predominately white. Taylor responded, “During the Met Gala this year, I was in the room with a lot of white people. There were times when they were looking for me to answer questions for a population I don’t feel comfortable representing … but I appreciate that I see things differently than other people.”

For Taylor, the initial spark began from watching publicist Kelly Cutrone’s Kell on Earth television show, about balancing working at a high-powered fashion PR firm with personal life. “It was amazing and it was all about show production … It was everything I wanted to be and at the perfect time in my life where I had to decide what I wanted to do.” She then realised what she truly wanted — to make a name for herself in the fashion industry. At Vogue, Taylor plans industry events including the Met Gala, cocktail parties, dinners, and fashion shows.

Huggard, who taught Taylor nine years ago in London, shared her own reflections: “It’s amazing to see her journey and what she’s done at Vogue … Sache has always let other people shine … but she’s a hard worker and … very driven.” MPS fashion management graduate student at Parsons School of Design Rashmi Rajpurohit, who has designed for luxury brands such as Gucci, Prada, and Givenchy, called events like these important. “You get to understand how the fashion industry works,” she said, adding that her biggest takeaway was to “take a few steps back and just keep yourself in the present moment” — a critical reminder in a brutal industry. Rajpurohit added that in the chaos of the industry, Taylor’s words offered a moment of clarity — a reminder to recenter and stay present.

Towards the end of the talk, Taylor was asked how she keeps going despite the industry’s challenges. Her answer was both humbling and motivating: “I don’t want other people to see me fail, so I will just keep going … I think of myself 12 years ago, and this is all I’ve ever wanted.” 

As the room erupted in applause, students left the auditorium with more than just career advice — they left with a blueprint for resilience, self-belief, and chasing their dreams with intention.