The School of Business’ Fashion Show models.
Photo courtesy of Jenniffer Molina
The Feliciano School of Business will host its first student-run Fashion Show in support of the Human Needs Foods Pantry next month, with students spending their time preparing for the big event.
Manveer Mann, an assistant professor of marketing at Montclair State, said of the upcoming event: “The marketing department used to organize a fashion show as an event marketing course, but that was many years ago. A colleague who is now retired mentioned it to me, and I was interested in reviving it.”
According to Mann, encouraging students to organize the event would “expose students to several critical skills needed to be successful in business.”
Kimberly Cardona, a senior majoring in sports event and tourism marketing, said, “Five other students [and I], along with our professor, are in charge of making this [fashion show] happen. Together, we evenly distribute tasks such as planning, marketing, advertising, recruiting and sponsorships.”
Cardona said that she and her peers stepped up to help Mann turn the fashion show from a dream into a reality. “We all liked the idea of bringing it back, but quickly realized there is a lot of work that has to go into making it happen,” she said, looking over her shoulder as students walked into the lobby for the show’s model casting.
Aimee Vizzuso, Kimberly Cardona and Jenniffer Molina overseeing the fashion show flyers.
Photo Credit: Jennifer Leon
Jenniffer Molina, a marketing and retail merchandising major, said, “Planning this fashion show is like practice for our careers. We have learned so much about responsibility.”
This isn’t Molina’s first time organizing a fashion show. During her internship at fashion label BCBG, she helped to organize a show, make flyers for the event and contact models. Still, she said, “[All that] wasn’t as much as this [project], because we are starting from scratch.”
Aimee Vizzuso, a fashion studies major with a minor in business and fashion merchandising, said that the School of Business would help with financing the show, but first students needed to undertake the task of developing a budget proposal for their project, giving them hands-on experience with aspects of the business world.
“Local boutiques are lending clothes for the models,” said Vizzuso. “On days of the show and days leading up to the show, we will have a lot of student volunteers. The students doing the makeup for the models are in the make-up program for the school. Even graphic design majors have helped design our flyers. Everything is student-oriented.”
“We’re trying to recruit student talent. We’ve had to push ourselves to network with students. We are like FBI agents,” said Cardona, giggling.
Assistant Professor of Marketing, Manveer Mann (middle) during a group fashion show meeting at the Feliciano School of Business.
Photo Credit: Bryant Rosario
“There was a kid in one of my classes who said he knew how to design. I asked him if he could help us, and at first, he wasn’t too interested. I had to email him and just hope he didn’t think I was into him or something,” said Molina, covering her face while she broke into laughter. “It was weird at first, but he agreed to help.”
Asking students for help has greatly benefited not only those running the event, but also those who are volunteering to lend a helping hand, said Vizzuso. “They’re getting experience out of this as well, and it’s getting their name out there. We’ve saved a lot of money, because there are a lot of resources available that normally people would have to pay for.”
Starting on March 23 and continuing through the day of the event, April 6, organizers will be collecting donations for the Human Needs Food Pantry in Montclair.
“We have drop-off locations on campus. They will be located in the main staircase in the School of Business, the Venture Café, the speech building and the main lobby in the student center,” said Cardona and Molina as they helped each other remember the exact names of the locations.
“The fashion show has helped students become more confident in their own abilities,” said Mann. “Lectures and exams can be very effective in increasing conceptual knowledge, and hands-on approach can be very effective in increasing application skills.”
