So, we had to be on the bus at 7 a.m. Needless to say everyone was lined up at Starbucks as soon
as we arrived at the World Trade Center.
We headed up to the
12th floor of the Dallas Market Center on the cool capsule elevators
to begin career day and were immediately greeted by displays of the student competitions
including trend boards, fashion illustrations, DAVACO merchandising projects,
and repurposed denim garments.
The winning trend board for the cotton category (above.)
The winning fashion illustration (above.)
After browsing the displays and mingling with other students
and teachers we headed over to the Keynote Stage to hear the first speaker of
the day, Hil Davis, the founder and CEO of J. Hilburn which is a men’s clothing
company that produces both custom and off-the-shelf products. His speech was
very interesting and he was very knowledgeable about why certain pricing and marketing
techniques in the apparel industry work. He told us about where the apparel
industry is now and where it is headed, why Amazon is so successful, and how
websites like RueLaLa and GiltGroupe work.
We then headed to the seminars that
we had signed up for. My first seminar was Fashion Reporting and Journalism
with Michael Quintanilla who is a senior writer for Hearst Publishing Corp.
This was my most fun seminar of the day because Michael was so nice, his presentation
was interesting, and I got a lot of good tips about how to be a successful
fashion journalist.
After a small break, we headed to our second seminar. I went
to Creative Fashion Design where Elizabeth Anyaa spoke. She creates
contemporary home and fashion accessories using natural fabrics, fibers, and
techniques. She was so upbeat and funny and her West African accent and
free-spirited personality were so cute. The samples she brought were gorgeous
and original and she shared a lot of information about her design process.
Finally, lunchtime came around! We had sandwiches, chips,
cookies, and Smart Water (the event was sponsored by it) and it was very good.
During lunch, Trend Board and Fashion Illustration awards were announced. We
also heard a second keynote speaker, D’Andra Simmons who has worked in many
facets of the fashion industry and is now producing her own organic skin-care
line, Hard Night Good Morning, and being vice president of her family’s nutrition
company, Ultimate Living. She told us all about her journey from “geek to chic”
and how she came to be the successful business woman that she is today. After
this we all headed to our third seminar but all anyone could think about was
the imminent fashion show.
Announcing trend board and fashion illustration awards.
Next, we were all herded to the adjacent Grand Pavilion at
the Trade Mart for the fashion show. This is the event we anxiously anticipated
all day and it did not disappoint. The show was separated into several
different themed segments such as “On the Edge,” “Final Frontier,” and “Little
Red Dress.” There were flamenco dancers at the beginning of one of these mini-shows,
and then a saxophonist. It was interesting seeing student designs in such a professional
show. I took tons of photos so I’ll let the designs speak for themselves!
The winner of Best in Show with his two designs.
Congratulations to Amy Fortenberry whose Eco Gator design
was featured in the fashion show (below)!
And here's my design on since it was mistakenly displayed on a child-sized mannequin(below)!
(Excuse my appearance in all the photos from today--I was exhausted!)
I also took photos throughout the day of stylish students
from both MSU as well as other schools for future business casual inspiration.
Yes, that's a guy in heels! But he was working it so I couldn't not get a photo!
All in all, we had a great time. Thank you to Charles and Dr.
Cheek for putting up with us this whole time and also making this trip worth
our while by booking the best seminars and activities, the awesome hotel, and
the support and know-how required for each one of our pieces that were entered
into the competition!
Written and photographed by MSU Fashion Focus Vice President, Maegan Bedells.
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