FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – U of A students Addison and Turner Grace Edwards were invited to the recent New York City Fashion Week and got an opportunity to pose for pictures in soon-to-be licensed Razorback gear.

Addison, a junior, and Turner Grace, a freshman, were guests of IMG College Licensing and IMG Fashion. The Fort Smith duo tried on Razorback clothing items that will be available to the public later this year. The Edwards sisters are both apparel merchandising and product development majors in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

“The goal of this experience is for the students to learn as much as they can from both a career and educational standpoint, as well as to be able to integrate their learnings into the ways you style Arkansas gear on campus and in your everyday lifestyle,” said IMG’s Rachel Lusby, who accompanied the students to New York. “We want to encourage a connection between licensed collegiate apparel and high fashion, showcasing that collegiate apparel need not only be worn for game days or to the gym.”

The trip included a behind-the-scenes look at the fashion industry with entry to Dion Lee and Son Jung Wan shows, interaction with leaders in the industry and access to various partner experiences.

“While in New York, the students attended a dinner, styled in collegiate gear, to network with one another before attending NYFW on Saturday,” said Lusby. “On Saturday, the students had access to the VIP lounge backstage, were taken on a backstage tour of the show set-up, hair and makeup stations, attended two shows, participated in an industry panel with top IMG Fashion employees, and engaged with the sponsor activities with E!, Tresemme and Papyrus.”

The Edwards sisters, who graduated from Southside High School in Fort Smith, were selected in part based on their social influence on the U of A campus.

“We searched for students with engaging content we felt would represent the university well and be able to highlight the experience to their followers on social media as well as their blogs, and these girls fit the bill,” said Lusby. “Turner and Addison also took some amazing shots of their Arkansas style throughout the city that will be used on social media to highlight their experience and ways to showcase Arkansas-licensed gear.”

Razorback Sports Properties is the multimedia rights holder for U of A athletics, and RSP, which manages corporate sponsorship of all 19 Razorback sports teams, is a division of IMG College. IMG’s College Licensing and Fashion divisions created The Collegiate Experience at New York Fashion Week to benefit students from nine partner universities.

The sisters, who are both planning for a career in the fashion industry, were selected through a variety of criteria, including applications, fashion blogging, social media presence and academic performance.

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.