Senior Vice President of Global Communications Celebrity and VIP at Marc Jacobs Celine Khavarani ’95 spoke to members of La Femme about her experience as a woman in the work force.

In past years, Khavarani has come back to campus to talk to students about her progress in the fashion industry, but today was the first time she specifically discussed her career as it relates to her gender.

“I think being a woman, you can have everything, but you going to have different things at different times and you’re going to have to make certain things a priority at certain times,” Khavarani said. “You have to sacrifice a little bit more and you have to know that that’s okay.”

Working on the public relations side of the fashion industry, Khavarani said that she is mostly surrounded by female leaders, so she is lucky enough to not have encountered men trying to undermine her.

Khavarani encouraged students to present themselves with confidence.

“I think women put an insane amount of pressure on themselves these days,” Khavarani said. “You always feel pressure to look perfect, be perfect, but I really have to say that you have to be authentic to yourself.”

Khavarani said that she recounts her time at school very fondly. She advised students to take advantage of the profound learning and conversations present in classrooms and amongst peers.

Khavarani said that despite the intense pressure on students to achieve the most prestigious accolades, she believes that the key to success is a happy life and knowing one’s likes and dislikes.

“She was really inspiring, and she gave me more confidence in my daily life,” Stephanie Cho ’19 said. “I feel like I can do a lot more now. I think it was really cool [that she came to talk to us], especially since she is a Harvard-Westlake alumni, so she knows what the school is and how it works. That was helpful.”