How a Fashionista Makes an Exit: Departure Email from the Fashion Industry

I was forwarded the following departure email by the individual who wrote it.  He said that he didn't really care if I anonymized it or not, so I've decided to keep in the name of the company, the U.S. office of Italian luxury sportswear designer, The House of Maxmara.

Not sure about how it is for other professions, but here is a run-down of linguistic choices that you would never see in a law firm departure email:  admitting to having a heart; simultaneous usage of all three tenses separated by forward slashes; image of riding off into the sunset for someone that is not going into retirement; the entire sentence starting with "you've all touched me" that brilliantly can be interpreted as sincere appreciation, thinly-veiled displeasure, or accusation of workplace sexual harassment; an emphatic command not cloaked as a recommendation (i.e, "use it!" not "I highly recommend that you use it"); reference to social media other than LinkedIn; "shine on your crazy diamonds;" a picture, a postscript, and a link to .


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: XXXX
Date: Fri, Aug 20, 2010 at 2:16 PM
Subject: And Now For Something Completely Different
To: Press Office <press@usa.maxmara.com>

Hello All of My Friends at MaxMara,

It is with a heavy heart that I say that today has been/will be/is my last day at MaxMara. It's been quite the ride, to say the least, but now it's time for that ride to go off into the sunset. You've all touched me in some way that I would never, ever take back. In fact, let's keep IN touch. Below is my contact info, use it! For the next couple days I'll un-lockdown my Facebook.

Shine on you crazy diamonds,

XXXX

PS: For those that didn't get the subject/picture due to cultural hurdles please see this link if you're truly puzzled. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066765/