Fashion Scholarship Fund winners | UDaily - UDaily - UDaily

Emma Davis, who is from Ellicott City, Maryland, chose to highlight the importance of mental health and suicide prevention initiatives by crafting a fictional athleisure clothing collection to be sold through Kohl’s in a partnership with Under Armour.

“I picked the activewear industry because your total health isn’t just your physical health, it’s also a combination of your mental health as well,” said Davis.

With purple and teal as the dominant color patterns in her proposed athleisure line (a nod to the coloring of the suicide prevention ribbon), Davis’ plan also included in-store tie-ins such as workshops, yoga sessions and interactive activities to bring awareness to mental health.

“Fashion can be used and applied in so many different ways, just as it can bring people together in so many ways,” Davis said.

Shaffer said participating in the competition requires extra time.

“Students really had to balance their classes, online learning and this commitment all at once,” Shaffer said. “For Meera, Sabrina and Emma, the hard work and Zoom calls certainly paid off.”

Each of the students cited Shaffer’s role as a faculty mentor as a key piece of the puzzle when it came to their success. They also highlighted the importance of the practical approach that the Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies champions in the classroom.

“As fashion merchandising majors a lot of our academic work is project-based, but this was literally taking what we’ve learned in the classroom and applying it from start to finish,” said Davis. “We had to ask ourselves: How am I going to make this product, market it, and execute it? Moving forward, I know this experience will make us great candidates as we go into the workforce.”

Connections and contacts

“Not only do the students receive a scholarship, but becoming part of the FSF family really opens up a lot of doors for them,” said Shaffer, who advises UD students interested in competing in the organization’s case study competition.

Lee is one of several UD students who have benefitted from the networking and mentorship opportunities available for student competitors and winners. Through her connections with FSF, Lee secured an internship with Ross Stores in the summer of 2020 and a full-time position as location planning analyst after graduation.

“Each year, the organization has a gala to celebrate the student scholarship winners,” Lee said. “What was really exciting is that last year I actually got to meet the CEO of Ross Stores, Barbara Rentler herself, which is really cool. That’s something I never thought I’d be able to do by just participating in an extracurricular activity.”

Lee also benefited from the organization’s mentorship program, which paired her with a professional buyer in the fashion industry.

“Besides just the networking aspect, programs like this help you create close connections with people that will last a lifetime,” said Lee of her experience.

Said Davis, “It’s not winning the scholarship and that’s just it. You’re really in this community for the long-haul.”

Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies

The UD Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies is recognized for its rigorous undergraduate programs in fashion design and product innovation, fashion merchandising and management, internationally prominent graduate program, professional education programs and award-winning scholars. The department’s strengths in cutting-edge technology, global experiences, industry relations and mentoring are complemented by its significant collaborations across the University of Delaware, with international institutions and in both the fashion and textile manufacturing industries.

Fashion Scholarship Fund

As the oldest and foremost fashion-oriented education and workforce development nonprofit in the country, the Fashion Scholarship Fund supports the careers of the country’s most promising fashion students from all backgrounds. It awards over $1.2 million in scholarships each year to help students succeed in all sectors of the industry: design, merchandising, analytics, retail, tech and supply chain. UD students interested in participating in the 2021 Fashion Scholarship Fund case study are encouraged to contact Brenda Shaffer.

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