Three Marshall University students from the Lewis College of Business and the College of Arts and Media gained a new perspective on the fashion industry when they attended New York Fashion Week: The Shows over the past weekend in New York City.

Hannah Conrad, a junior marketing major, Ellen Castro, a first-year MBA student, and Celia Maddy, a senior fine arts major, were selected for the program sponsored by IMG College Licensing after filling out an online application which required an essay and multiple references.

“We had to write about how the experience would impact our future career, how will it affect our hobbies and interests, and anything else we felt they needed to know,” Conrad said.

Castro said she wrote about how the trip would benefit her both professionally and personally.

Aside from experiencing multiple fashion shows such as Dion Lee and Son Jung Wan over the three-day trip, the students also had VIP access to an exclusive lounge and the opportunity to talk to and ask questions with a group of fashion week insiders.

“We got to hear from a panel of insiders that work for IMG as well as a magazine about their jobs, career paths, and how they got to where they are,” Castro said. “It opened my eyes to the different careers that are out there that I otherwise would never have even considered.”

Conrad said the experience helped her realize she would like to work toward a career in fashion.

“I just didn’t think it was possible for me to do anything fashion-related where I’m from a small town in West Virginia, but they made it seem like it could be a possibility,” Conrad said. “Even if you apply for different things that don’t relate exactly to what you’re looking for, it could open doors.”

Conrad said she was previously interested in the medical sales industry, but that working in fashion would be a dream come true. “I thought I wanted to do something completely different, but then I realized fashion isn’t as hard to get into as it seems,” Conrad said.

Nineteen total students from all over the country were chosen to participate in the experience and attend the shows. Before the events began, the students met for a group dinner in the city on Friday evening.

Conrad said some students were already involved in the fashion-industry prior to attendance.

“There was a girl from South Carolina that was living in New York for a semester interning for Tory Burch,” Conrad said. “A lot of the people were interns and worked their way up.”

Conrad said her favorite part of the trip was getting the backstage experience at the shows and learning what really happens behind the scenes.“The coolest part was getting to see what happens,” Conrad said. “It’s super fast-paced.”

The experience was fully-funded by Marshall University and IMG College Licensing. This was the second semester that Marshall sent students to the event.

Hanna Pennington can be contacted at [email protected]

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