[Ninewest Designers]
On Friday, October 2, 2015, 38 fashion design and fashion merchandising students led by Professors Holly Lentz-Schiller and Leslie Simpson went on an educational field trip to New York City for the day. The purpose of the trip was to expose students to the fashion field in New York City. The following three fashion industry sites were visited along with the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology. The group had a few hours of free time where we explored retailers, fabric shops, museums and tourist sites in New York City.
Nine West Group: We visited their showroom and design department in the corporate office. The President of Nine West along with the Director of Merchandising, Director of Sales, two Shoe Designers and the Director of Talent Acquisition spoke to us and took questions. We learned how merchandising and design work together to create a new product line and what their daily functions are, and how the shoes are sold at wholesale to their customer base.
Maggie Norris Couture: Maggie Norris is an American fashion designer with a background working at Ralph Lauren and Mondi. She started her own fashion company in 2000 and specializes in designing custom made ‘creations’ such as corsets, formal dresses, shoes, hats and gloves. This visit was very inspiring as we learned about her design process from initial sketch to final ‘creation’. She has made garments for Nicole Kidman, Alicia Keys, Halle Berry and Sharon Stone to name a few.
Out of Print: Out of Print is a private company that prints iconic and often out of print book covers on to products such as t-shirts, bags, jewelry and socks. They sell their products to bookstores; Barnes and Noble is a major customer. This was a great experience for us to learn how 2 entrepreneurs started with a design idea and have developed a successful business.