CSU feeds the local fashion industry

Internationally, the fashion industry is big business, worth an estimated $2.4 trillion, according to the McKinsey Global Fashion Index.  Locally, there’s a focus on developing the kind of creative professionals who can keep it growing.

The Design and Merchandising program at Colorado State University in Fort Collins recently earned ranking as one of the top 5 percent of 50 fashion merchandising school programs in the U.S.  Criteria for rankings posted by FashionSchools.org include depth and breadth of programs and faculty, tuition value, academic reputation and admission selectivity.

With a focus on preparing students for careers in the industry, CSU’s program concentrates on blending working internships with classroom knowledge. Creating businesses that succeed boils down to the basic premise that “If it doesn’t sell, you can’t make it,” according to the program’s internship coordinator and instructor Carol Engel-Enright.

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The program emphasizes the marketability of product design, which includes costing, sourcing and production.

As a graduate of the Design and Merchandising program, Hope Jeffers commented on the steps necessary to get as close as possible to making sure a product will sell. Through her 12-week internship at Pearl Izumi in Louisville, she got a first-hand view of what it takes. 

“It is incredible and eye opening to see the entire design process from ideation to production and all the steps it takes from developers, designers, material teams, marketing, pattern engineering, and fittings working together in a tight timeline to make it possible.”

CSUs Design and Merchandising program offers both bachelor as well as graduate degrees.  Those degrees include study in apparel design and production, merchandising, product development and interior design.  Student enrollment has grown about 15 percent yearly with merchandising increasing the fastest, according to Engel-Enright.

“Our students bring a fresh perspective to the industry,” she said, referring to both internships and the industry in general.  “They do projects that help companies research how products go into stores.”

During each student’s internship, they work with a company to identify learning objectives and then do projects that meet them.  Looking at the supply chain and researching how products can be produced to get to the right market rather than hoping they get to the right market is an example.

“For trail runners who run at 4 a.m., researching what kind of apparel they might use is another example,” Engel-Enright said.  “Students look at how could they innovate products in terms of things like design and materials.”

Jeffers’ interning experience prepared her for a job she is now starting in a number of ways.

“I had the opportunity to be a design and development intern at Pearl Izumi in Louisville,” she said.  Being able to actually have a hands-on experience to tie together everything I had learned the prior three years while still technically being a student and having staff support was an invaluable experience.”

Her internship included coordinating photo shoots and sitting in on fit model sessions to see how garments change on a body and how that influences the design process.  She also researched geo-targeted marketing and presented a marketing plan to company leaders.

Jeffers is now starting a new position as specialty shop manager at Scheels in it’s new location in Johnstown, which will open Sept. 30.  Her responsibilities include management, merchandising, buying.

“My experience at Pearl Izumi has been invaluable in the outdoor recreation industry aspect of my job but I am also able to sell several fashion brands as well.”

Adelaide Farrell is starting her final semester in the Apparel Design program and regards the close interaction with professors as a valuable asset to her education,  Faculty are award-winning designers who mentor students in submitting design work for competitions and awards that include the best use of technology.

Farrell currently works as a sales associate and stylist at Tula in Fort Collins and plans to intern in New York.

Tula owner, Kate Hannah, describes the Design and Merchandising program as masterful when it comes to staying on the cutting edge of the industry.  She describes both the interns and employees she’s hired from the program as a great asset to her company.

“Social media, marketing, website development, videography and even design and sewing are some of the aspects of the business that CSU interns have helped develop,” she said. “These students have access to resources, information and points of view from their professors and classes that have been invaluable to Tula.”

Hannah has also partnered up with a graduate to create and exclusively sell a ready-to-wear label, ELIZABETH.  Co-designed and owned by Hannah and Anabella Poletti, a 2013 graduate, the label showcased in April with four complete gowns and several separates.

Poletti owns Anabella Poletti Design House in Fort Collins and also brings interns into her business.  “They are involved in the entire process of development of each year’s collections and custom garments,” she said.

“The excellent instruction I received from my design professors prepared me to open my studio, a business where I create custom wedding dresses and produce a private label which is sold at an exclusive boutique in Fort Collins.”

Additional local shops that provide internships and jobs include Heyday and Akinz.

“I push entrepreneurship and tell students that every major fashion corporation started with one person who decided to take risks,” Engel-Enright said.  “Colorado has a good economic climate for this.”

Whereas the fashion industry and the outdoor industry used to be separate, there are companies in Colorado that are changing that and bridging the gap, she added, pointing to Pearl Izumi as a model.

As a result, some students are choosing to stay in Colorado whether they do internships here or in New York or in Los Angeles.

“Since our tuition is much less than a lot of fashion schools, we encourage students to take a semester in London or Paris of Italy for a cultural experience away from the U.S.,” Engel-Enright said.