Apparel Students Visit New York City For Fashion Industry Meetings, Tours

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Forty apparel merchandising and product development students from the Bumpers College traveled to New York City for a study tour earlier this summer, including this stop at the Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Forty students from the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences apparel program at the University of Arkansas participated in an eight-day study tour of New York City earlier this summer, getting a first-hand look at the fashion industry.

The apparel merchandising and product development majors in the Bumpers College's School of Human Environmental Sciences were in New York from May 18-26. The tour was led by associate professor and study tour coordinator Laurie Apple, instructors Lance Cheramie and Stephanie Hubert, and academic coordinator Douglas Gearhart.

Highlights included meetings with Montgomery Frazier, The Image Guru, to discuss self-promotion; with executives at Macy's Department Store at Herald Square, including a question and answer session; and a question and answer session with staff of the Wall Street Journal.

"The New York Study Tour was the perfect insight to the apparel industry," said Alyssa Grave, a 2016 graduate of the apparel merchandizing and product development program. "Meeting with different companies and corporations from all different ends of the spectrum in the apparel industry allowed other students and myself to be educated in new areas we had not yet been exposed to, and hone in on and enjoy areas we already had come to love. I am so thankful I got to be a part of this wonderful trip and hope many more students get to experience this insightful piece of the program in the future."

The group visited the showroom of Alfred Dunner, a women's clothing manufacturer; the Trunk Club mansion on Madison Avenue, where customers shop without going shopping; Sweaty Betty, a British company specializing in women's active wear; the Metropolitan Museum of Art to view the Manus (handmade) vs. Machina (machine-made), Fashion in the Age of Technology exhibit; the Doneger Group, a global leader in merchandising and business strategies for retail and fashion industries; Jordache, a major supplier of denim; Vartest laboratories, a quality assurance and compliance testing business; the Long Island showroom and factory of MV Sport, a division of Weatherproof; and the showrooms of Italian design companies Eleventy, a men's modern collection, and Luciana Barbera, a men and women's collection for conservative clientele.

"It was a spectacular experience," said senior Sara Aguilar. "I was so impressed with all the appointments. We met with so many different companies from Trunk Club, a new start up styling company, to the Italian luxury brand Luciano Barbera. I had no idea we would actually get one-on-one time with people from the companies. I had actual life conversations with these people, made connections with people I know I can contact again in a heartbeat. A huge thank you goes to our faculty for everything they did for us."

Students also toured Central Park, Trinity Church, the Sept. 11 Memorial, had dinners at Carmines and John's with Bumpers College apparel alumni working in the New York City area; attended a New York Yankee's game, courtesy of Weatherproof management; and attended New York theatre productions.

"This trip was a wonderful introduction to my subsequent move to the city, and I was so impressed by the appointment lineup," said Tara McBarnet, another 2016 Bumpers College graduate. "We were kept on our toes the whole trip, but it was nicely balanced between our daily appointments, fun activities and some free time. I highly recommend this study tour opportunity ... it is definitely well worth it." 

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.