News and Events
Computer Aided Design in product development is a significant area of growth in the fashion industry. Recently, the Fashion program was awarded a $1.7 million grant from Lectra for U4ia instructor training and computer lab software implementation and upgrades over the next 4 years. Mrs. Sandra Bailey is the grant coordinator. In both Fashion Design and Fashion Merchandising degree programs, visual communication, technology, and product development are at the core.
Original design apparel and accessories by fashion majors are juried by a panel of industry executives for submission in the annual spring fashion show, one that will be produced by our students in a required course taught by Mrs. Jenifer Roberts, CTM 384: Fashion Promotion and Show Production, and that will be attended by over 1000 persons.
A unique resource housed in the downtown Park Central Office Building is the Historical Costume Collection. In the History of Costume course, students can view actual examples of period costume. The garments are also used as visuals in other courses, such as fashion illustration and clothing construction, and introductory survey courses as examples of popular culture shifts.
The Fashion Program has a required capstone course in entrepreneurship. We believe that entrepreneurship is the wave of the future, provides a greater opportunity toward economic equity, and is among the top educational experiences and tools we can offer our students--the leaders of the future. Many of our majors complete internships with entrepreneurs across the country. Our department head, Dr. Michele Granger, has co-authored a text on retail business planning in fashion entrepreneurship that is used globally in business administration and fashion departments. Entrepreneurship is at the core of what we do and in what we believe.
In our program, there is an emphasis on two types of experiential learning: internships, which are required and are monitored by faculty as upper-level courses; and international studies, which include study tours to Paris and China, offered alternating years. A combination of these, international internships, is offered in fashion merchandising and fashion design through study abroad partnerships in Great Britain and Italy.
Swarovski DESIGN CONTEST 2007 – Student Finalists
During this year’s national competition, Swarovski donated the beads, and students from select colleges and universities provided the creativity and skill. There were 60 entries in the student category with 20 finalists among four schools: Savannah College of Art and Design, the Art Institute of Florida, Stephens College, and Missouri State University. Two of the finalists are Faith White and Sonja Johnson of the MSU Fashion Program! Photos of the finalists’ original products will be sent to Austria for photography after the final jury on October 4th in New York.
December 2007—A Sparkling Announcement
November 2007
The 2007 Kansas City Fashion Group International Career Day was another success for the Fashion Program. Even two of our faculty members were winners!
Store Concept Board
- 1st Place:
- Elyse Byrd
- 2nd Place:
- Jessica Movold
- 3rd Place:
- Michelle Kelsey
- Honorable Mention:
- Diane Brunje
Personal Shopper Board
- 3rd Place:
- Maureen Miller
Original Garment Costume
- 1st Place:
- Jessica Niehaus
- 2nd Place:
- Natalie Fritichi
Original Garment Resort Wear
- 2nd Place:
- Tara Bullock
Teacher Award for Mrs. Bailey and Mrs. Roberts
- 1st Place:
- Fashion Show
- 2nd Place:
- Original Garment Design
Spring Fashion Show Event
Last year on Saturday, April 22 one thousand people attended "UNDER CONSTRUCTION" our Spring 2006 Fashion Show produced by theCTM 384 class.
Kansas City Career Day
On October 14, approximately 50 MSU students from the Fashion Program traveled to Kansas City, Missouri, to attend Career Day, an annual event sponsored by the Fashion Group International, Inc. Over 250 students from universities in a 6-state region attended workshops on career tracks in fashion, participated in resume reviews, networked with industry professionals, and competed for scholarships. Some of the universities and colleges participating included the University of Missouri-Columbia, Kansas State University, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Stephens College and the University of Oklahoma. For the third year in a row, one of our students won first place in the original design competition. Jennifer McKelvie, a senior in Fashion Design/Product Development was awarded the top scholarship for her senior collection, a grouping of 4 ensembles created from Tyvec, which she hand-painted before cutting and sewing it into original garments. Three of our other fashion merchandising and fashion design/product development majors also won scholarships for their visual presentation boards: Kristine Banasik and Meghan King won 4th place for Merchandising for Retail Store concept, and Fuyuko Iimori won 3rd place for her Personal Shopper Illustration board. In total, these students came home with about $1,500 in scholarship monies, validation of their amazing work, and important recognition to include on their resumes. Faculty/staff sponsors included Sandy Bailey, Pat Juncos, and Michele Granger. They, too, came home with a lot of pride!
Guest Designer - Gerri Mack
Critiqes Sr. Collections
Ms. Mack is the Designer/Founder Crivelli Mack LLC
Her labels include: Mack & Co., Stella & Stevie, Bathing Beauty, Private Label design Products are distributed through Marshall Field's, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Children's Wear Digest, Specialty stores, LF Stores, Target stores. She works in many merchandise categories including children's outerwear, children's swimwear, women's purses and accessories.
A personal statement from Designer Gerri Mack: "I have been working as a children's seasonal designer (outerwear, bathing suits) since 1993. This last fall I launched a women's accessory business. I design for my own labels that are sold in high end stores, and work with my factory partners in Mexico for the Cherokee toddler girl's swim label sold in Target stores. I have designed private label programs for Kohl's, Mervyn's, LL Bean, Land's End and Kid's R Us. I work solely on the computer designing my line, and have a local patternmaker making my first patterns. I source my fabric in New York, Paris and Argentina. Often, I design my own prints."
Gerri critiqued the Senior Collections of over 20 seniors in Fashion Design Majors. The winning garments were featured in the annual fashion show on Saturday, April 22, 2006.
A graduate of the Missouri State University Fashion program, Ashley Lenz and her sister have opened their own boutique Lenz Boutique. They specialize in pageant wear and Bridal dresses. They are a full-service pageant and designer evening gown boutique located in Frisco, TX. To visit their site go to http://www.lenzboutique.com/
Fashion Major Takes Off On Her Own
An extraordinary fashion merchandising major: her name is Sarah Horton. At the ripe old age of 22 she will be opening her own exclusive fashion store named Blush in Kirkwood, MO. She developed her business plan in the fashion merchandising capstone course, CTM 585: Establishing a Fashion Business, took it to a bank, presented it and was given a small business loan. She has leased her space and, while finishing her degree this semester, is designing, furnishing, and stocking her store in anticipation of a February opening. Sarah exemplifies the entrepreneurial spirit that we work to instill in our fashion students.
2005 ITAA International Conference Presentations
Four Fashion and Interior Design faculty members at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center presented research at the 2005 International Textiles & Apparel (ITAA) conference. The conference held from November 1 – 6 in Alexandria, Virginia (a suburb of Washington, D. C.) was the site for industry and higher education leaders from around the world to congregate and share the latest findings concerning textile science, historical/cultural trends, social psychological aspects of fashion, merchandising/ marketing/ retailing, and apparel design research. Major industry speakers to include Cass Johnson, President of the National Council of Textile Organizations, were at the event to network and dialogue about issues occurring in the global marketplace. Panel sessions of distinguished scholars, cutting edge fashion designs, and mounted textile design exhibits rounded out the conference events.
Mrs. Sandra Bailey and Mrs. Jenifer Robert
Sandy Bailey and Jenifer Roberts' oral research presentation was categorized under Merchandising/Marketing/Retailing. Entitled Spring Show: Merging Talents of Merchandising and Design Students for the Ultimate Promotional Event, they were allowed to showcase the strategies used to bring together apparel design and fashion merchandising student’s creative endeavors as well as provide them real world experience in the fashion industry.
Next, Covers of the five fashion textbooks authored by Michele Granger
Fashion students and faculty travel to China
Fashion students and faculty travel to NY
Fall Semester 2006
Congratulations to the following Fashion Design majors, who placed in the Original Fashion Design competition at the Fashion Group International, Inc. in
Mellissa Callahan--5th place overall
Christine Mitchell--10th place overall
Cherrelle Hitchcock--12th place overall
There were 103 garments entered (5 to 6 universities, among them Stephens College, Kansas State,
Congratulations to the following Fashion Merchandising majors, who placed at the Fashion Group International competition for their original Merchandising Store Concept Boards in
Sara Davidson-2nd place
Angie Davis-3rd place
Kacie Showalter – 4th place
Congratulations to Jenifer Roberts and Sandra Bailey on their first place award in the juried faculty competition of the Fashion Group International for Original Apparel Design Teaching Tool!
And, a side note that Yours Truly (Dr. Michele Granger) won on the first place award in the juried faculty competition for Original Fashion Art.
At the same time, our graduate student, Jennifer McKelvie won the Student Designer Award for Outstanding Use of Textiles at the International Textile and Apparel Assoc. Conference in