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Trip
Overview
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In what has turned out to be a very busy travel
season for TAPP students and faculty, a recent tour was just completed
of the Chicago area textile and apparel industry, as well as the Chicago
Textile and Apparel Career Fair.
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From the 8 through the 10th of November, Dr. Annette
Lynch and 34 textile and apparel majors traversed Wisconsin and Illinois
visiting a host of industry organizations, including the corporate
offices of Kohl's, Hart, Shaffner & Marx, Sears Holdings, and Cintas. In
addition, the Chicago History Museum and the design studio of Alice
Berry were toured too. At the Chicago History Museum, a Christian Dior
"New Look" Exhibit was viewed. Also a visit was made to Macy's of
Chicago (formerly Marshall Fields) to see a Calvin Klein fashion
presentation hosted Stacy Lord of TLC's "What Not to Wear."
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Chicago Career Fair highlights included keynote
addresses by Austin Scarlett, original winner of Bravo's "Project
Runway" and Audrey Smaltz, CEO of the Ground Crew, a company that
provides the fundamental and essential
backstage support for fashion show productions.
Clients include Donna Karan, Betsey Johnson and Oscar de la Renta.
Various career oriented workshops were attended too.
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| First Stop: Kohl's Corporate Headquarters, Milwaukee, WI.
| Newest News, Vera Wang partners with Kohl's to produce
affordable designer line.
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| Design, Merchandising, and Product Development Internship
materials are available in Dr. Lynch's office. |
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| Wednesday Afternoon: Sear's Corporate Headquarters: Hoffman
Estates
| See Dr. Lynch for information on merchandising, inventory
analyst, and product development/design opportunities. |
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| About Sears Holdings Corporation
| Sears Holdings Corporation, the publicly traded
parent of Kmart and Sears, Roebuck and Co., is the
nation's third largest broadline retailer, with
approximately $55 billion in annual revenues, and
with approximately 3,800 full-line and specialty
retail stores in the United States and Canada. Sears
Holdings is the leading home appliance retailer as
well a leader in apparel with a broad apparel
offering, including such well-known labels as Lands'
End, Jaclyn Smith and Joe Boxer, as well as the
Apostrophe and Covington brands. It also has Martha
Stewart Everyday products, including textile home
furnishing.
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| The merger of Kmart and Sears as Sears Holdings
Corporation closed on March 24, 2005, following
affirmative shareholder votes of both companies.
The company’s corporate headquarters is in Hoffman
Estates, Illinois. Kmart maintains a headquarters
office in Troy, Michigan. Sears Holdings operates
Sears and Kmart stores, and began opening a combined
format named Sears Essentials during the second
quarter of 2005. The company continues to market
products under brands held by both companies. |
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| Wednesday Night: Macy's
State Street Store, Downtown Chicago
| Calvin Klein Fashion Presentation Hosted by Stacy London,
co-host of TLC's What Not to Wear.
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| London grew up in Manhattan and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Vassar
College. She began her career as a fashion assistant at Vogue
magazine working her way up to Senior Editor at Mademoiselle.
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Above, Stacy poses with UNI Students.
| Thursday Morning: Hart Schaffner Marx, Manufacturing Tour
| Dating to 1872, Hart Schaffner Marx is the largest suit
maker in the United States. The brand is carried in over 1,000 stores across the
United States.
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| Well known for custom work and high quality ready-to-wear,
Hart Schaffner Marx continues to be the flagship brand and a leader in men's
clothing.
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| See Dr. Lynch or click on web site link
below for internship/entry level job
opportunities.
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http://www.hartschaffnermarx.com/ |
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Students at a cutting table, pattern marker for tailored men's wear on the
table. Machinery on right, Gerber mechanical cutter.
Plant tour led by Thomas Chojnacki,
Director of Manufacturing for over 25 years. Students were taken
through the entire manufacturing process for a suit jacket, from
sourcing and testing of the fabric, through lining, labeling, pressing
and inspection.
| Cinta's: The Uniform People!
| Cinta's is rated one of the top entry level employers of
college graduates on College.grad.com. Cinta's can boast 35 consecutive years of
uninterrupted growth in sales and profits. Internships and entry level
jobs in design, technical design, sourcing, and merchandising. See Dr.
Lynch for contacts. |
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| Alice Berry: Independent Designer/Artist
| Concentrating on color relationships amid the play of texture, sheerness,
and light, Alice Berry assembles fabrics for scarves, clothing and window treatments that are both incredibly functional and dynamically
pleasing to the eye. For more information see
http://www.aliceberry.com/ |
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Chicago
History Museum: "Christian Dior: The New Look Exhibit"
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| Chicago Career Day, Friday November 10
| Career Day Opens with Keynote Speaker Audrey Smaltz, CEO,
The Ground Crew
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| The Ground Crew provides the fundamental and essential
backstage support for fashion show productions. Clients include top
international designers such as Oscar de la Renta, Vera Wang, Betsey Johnson,
and Donna Karan. Students interested in fashion show production and
stylization are urged to look at the Ground Crew web sites and talk to Dr. Lynch
regarding internships possibilities. Website:
http://www.groundcrew.net/ |
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| Career Day Finale: Project Runway's Austin Scarlett
| Picture below shows UNI students watching the live
interview of Project Runway's Austin Scarlett, which also featured a runway presentation of selections from his Spring 2007
bridal line for Kenneth Pool. See bridal below and on web at http://kennethpool.com/ |
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