By: Alyssa Ross
I love the Stevenson University fashion department, because they provide us with opportunities to apply the information that we learn during lectures to the real world. The visual merchandising class partnered withBoscov’s to create store displays in April 2018. Our professors, Mr. Branson and Dr. Schiller, gave the class creative control to create visual displays based on a theme with clothes from different departments within the store. The class was divided into groups of 5, and we set out to bring our visions to life. We went on a total of 3 site visits where we chose an appropriate department for our themes and decided what type of stands, fixtures, mannequins and merchandise we would include.
My display with the theme, Tropical Miss, was targeted to women aged 25-44. We were provided with two display tables, two mannequins, and one T-stand for our display. We wanted Tropical Miss to be a vacation theme, so we browsed the Boscov’s floor for flowy, V-neck tops, white and olive green capri pants, denim jean jackets, and accessories such as sunglasses, hats, and necklaces. We shopped at local stores for seashells and fake plants that could be used as props. Our final display included two mannequins dressed in casual vacation apparel, a T-stand filled with relaxed vacation apparel, and colorful capris and sunglasses placed on our display tables.
Doing this project was very rewarding. We were able to take pictures to add to our portfolios, and even built relationships with the staff at Boscov’s as we worked closely with the visual merchandising director of the store. We learned the importance of teamwork. If it wasn’t for Dr.Schiller and Professor Branson, none of this would have been possible.