Fashion design and merchandising students place at Coach and Michael Kors competition
As part of James Pearson Duffy Department of Art and Art History's Visual Merchandising: Display course, students from the fashion design and merchandising program competed in the WindowsWear Mentorship competition - a merchandising assignment imagining future stores for the Coach, Kate Spade and Michael Kors brands. The competition was open to students globally, and hundreds of entries were received. Ten finalists were selected on behalf of each brand.
The WindowsWear Mentorship competition is part of the WindowsWear Mentorship Program, which connects brands with top students from around the world. Brands curate student projects to identify talent through generating new and innovative ideas.
Coach and Kate Spade provided eligible students with an opportunity to create a 360-degree creative project considering the evolution of the store experience and imagining the "store of the future."
Of the 10 finalists selected for the Coach competition, three were from Wayne State University's merchandising program. Student Vanna Wilke placed second for her project.
"I'm very grateful to have been given this opportunity and for being able to represent Detroit and Wayne State University," said Wilke. "I'm also glad that students from a smaller fashion department like Wayne State are getting attention for their work. Being part of this was so fun, and it was nice connecting with Tapestry, WindowsWear and other creative individuals from different schools."
Students were also asked to reimagine the Michael Kors store for its 40th anniversary. The objective was to take Kors' vision and combine it with the company's goal to drive positive environment and social change, keeping in mind the impact that operations can have on the environment and the well-being of others.
"The WindowsWear competition was an unforgettable experience that encouraged me to express my artistic and innovative ideas for Michael Kors," said Madeline Ramos. "This insightful opportunity gave me a glimpse of a real-world project in the fashion industry."
Of the 10 finalists selected for the Michael Kors competition, five were students from the same course.
"We are very proud of our students from this course as they submitted strong work, and we are proud to gain visibility to our fashion merchandising program here at Wayne State," said Monika Jonevski, fashion design and merchandising lecturer.
For more information, visit windowswear.com/mentorship.
Contact:
Da'Stanza Murphy, az2370@wayne.edu
CFPCA Information Officer II