FASHION PROGRAM NEWS AND EVENTS

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Fashion Your Future Forum Held at the College
SUNY Westchester’s Department of Fashion Merchandising and the DECA Fashion club welcomed top fashion and retail industry executives. The article below appeared in the Journal News.

High school students learn ins and outs of fashion at WCC workshop

VALHALLA - High school students from Westchester and Putnam counties sacrificed a day of spring break yesterday to learn more about the fashion industry.

The Department of Fashion Merchandising at Westchester Community College hosted the "Fashion Your Future Forum," a daylong program with guest speakers including fashion and retail industry executives.

"Everyone thinks fashion is just glitz and glamour," presenter Marla Greene said. "We open their eyes."

Greene, a professor at WCC and the Laboratory Institute of Merchandising in New York, shared a presentation on merchandise planning and control.

"It's not just about buying what you like," said Greene, who's worked for the Belk department stores and Liz Claiborne outlets. "It's about the customers' wants and needs."

Nicole Rascona, a production coordinator for Nine West, discussed the process of shoemaking from start to finish.

"I attended a forum like this at the University of Rhode Island, where I went, and I wanted to give back," she said. "It's such a good base where you can learn what you want to do and what you can do to get there."

She added: "You get a bit of a broader view on the industry. Fashion isn't just high fashion."

Putnam Valley High School junior Lauren Hall attended the workshops with her mother and friend.

"I learned about trends, which are changes in style that don't stay around too long," said the 17-year-old, who is interested in fashion styling.

WCC freshman Michelle Valencia assisted the 60 high school students during the daylong event with a concentration on fashion styling, merchandising and design. Valencia, a future stylist, said the younger students inspired her after they were asked to create designs from recyclables for a "Junk Food Junkie" fashion show that concluded the forum.

"Just seeing them getting started has me flowing with ideas," she said. "I wish I had a chance to do this."

Karonlay Cueva

Every semester, The DECA Fashion Club is always coming up with an event to reach the community. Like last year’s event was a successful one, this semester, fall 08, the club decided to raise funds for a foundation. The event took place in the cafeteria at Westchester Community College on November 25, 2008 from 9am to 2pm. Its purpose was to raise money for “Fashion Delivers” foundation. We had different types of venders to support our event from jewelry to clothes to manicure. There was also refreshment, goody bags, a DJ and lastly, the fashion show.

I was the director of the fashion show and even though it kept me very busy and sometimes I just wanted to give up, the outcome was great. It took hard work to get it done perfectly. This semester was my first time joining the club and become the Vice President. It was also my first time to direct a fashion show in general. However, I had experienced bigger fashion shows that I attended in the city for the fashion Couture Fall 08 and some others. I took that experience from those events and applied it by daring myself to coordinate one myself. The results from it were surprising because I didn’t know that I would be able to pull it off. Yet, I definitely wouldn’t have done it without the members of my group and the models. The models chosen for this event were students from school. They were great, and I know that I can count on them for coming events. I just want to thank all the models and my group members for helping me out in this event by giving me their time and effort to get it done perfectly. I really enjoyed doing this event and I will definitely do it again.

Sangjun Han

During the fall 2008 semester, Fashion Program students worked the New York City fashion shows. "I volunteered at a fashion show and although it was hard work, I learned a lot," says Sangjun Han. "It was a great opportunity for me. I really found out how things work behind the scenes."

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