2019 Annual Report Investing in FASHION’S FUTURE The Fashion Scholarship Fund (FSF) supports the careers of the country’s most talented young students from all backgrounds. The FSF awards over $1.2 million each year in scholarships to help these students succeed in all sectors of the industry: design, merchandising, marketing and analytics, and supply chain. In short, the FSF is investing in the future of fashion. The FSF also provides scholars with internship and career opportunities, mentorship, networking, professional development and unprecedented access to the industry’s most influential leaders and companies. FSF was founded in 1937 and is the foremost fashion-oriented education and workforce development nonprofit in the U.S. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction6 2019 8Impact “I WILL BE FOREVER Scholarships9 GRATEFUL TO THE FASHION Internships/Career15 Placement SCHOLARSHIP FUND Mentoring17 FOR TAKING MY Summer18 Events HUMBLE ROOTS AND PLANTING THEM Alumni21 IN A FLOURISHING Accelerator22 Grant GARDEN.” 23Gala Michal MacMorran 2019 FSF Scholarship Recipient Awareness/Development26 Events Indiana State University Partnerships27 Board of28 Governors Financial29 Overview LETTER LETTER FROM THE FROM THE EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT As the largest and oldest scholarship organization DIRECTOR Since its launch in 1937, the Fashion Scholarship supporting the country’s up-and-coming fashion Fund has been tirelessly working with and for the talent, the Fashion Scholarship Fund creates fashion community by identifying and nurturing educational and career opportunities for young its most promising young talent. The FSF leads people across the U.S. In 2019, we awarded over the industry in its support of and commitment to $1.2 million in scholarships. education and career placement in all of fashion’s We realize the future of the fashion industry is arts, tech, and business disciplines. Annually, directly dependent on our success. We impact we award scholarships ranging from $5,000 to thousands of young lives and provide both the $35,000 to students from over 60 colleges and financial means and confidence needed for universities nationwide. emerging talent to keep moving forward. Our scholarship, internship, mentorship, and As the President of the Board of Governors of the educational programs inspire students at all stages FSF, I’m passionate about the work we’re doing— of their lives—from their Scholar years to Alumni the work is personal to me. status and through their professional careers. We I urge you to explore how you, too, can become a at the FSF are committed to advancing the futures part of our community of supporters and help us of today’s students and young professionals—and fashion the future. to supporting the next generation of the fashion industry. After all, what is the world without fashion? It looks pretty uninspiring indeed. The FSF’s mission mirrors my own personal passion—helping as much young talent succeed in our industry as possible. Marc Mastronardi FSF Board of Governors President; SVP, Customer Experience & Store Peter Arnold Operations, Macy’s, Inc. FSF Executive Director 5 6 2019 IMPACT 740 SCHOLARSHIP APPLICANTS 207 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS 82 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE OVER $1,200,000 AWARDED $5,000–$35,000 AWARD TIERS 62 FSF MEMBER SCHOOLS 100+ CORPORATE RECRUITMENT PARTNERS 500+ FASHION INDUSTRY MENTORS 7 8 FSF SCHOLARSHIPS $35,000 RECIPIENTS Jennifer Junker, Iowa State University Her case study proposed Outdoor Voices’ global expansion in Scandinavia. Isabella Mendez, Savannah College of Art and Design Isabella created a new trail category for clothing manufacturer Alo Yoga to appeal to the European market. $15,000 FINALISTS Maxine Britt, University of Minnesota Her case study explored how the Wildfang brand could appeal to the Japanese market. FSF CASE STUDY SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION Rachel Davis, University of Cincinnati For students, the first step to joining the FSF community is to compete in the annual FSF Case Study She created a launch plan to expand U.S. retailer Reformation to the competition. Divided into four disciplines—design, merchandising, marketing and analytics, and supply London market. chain—the Case Study is a merit-based scholarship competition that challenges students to solve relevant problems facing the fashion industry. Jeremy Kalteux, University of Georgia His case study explored how Spanx could expand by introducing Each year, all scholarship recipients are awarded between $5,000 to $10,000 based on their case study scores. swimwear globally. In addition, eight top scoring FSF “finalists” are awarded with scholarships between $15,000 and $35,000. Viviana Martinez, University of Texas, Austin In 2019, our Case Study Scholarship competition was based on the topic of globalization in the fashion She presented an opportunity for Boohoo.com to globalize their industry. platforms. Students were challenged to expand an existing company within the apparel, accessories, beauty, or home Sydney Silver, Academy of Art University goods categories into the international market from the perspective of one of the four disciplines. Sydney created a marketing and merchandising launch plan for retailer 740 applicants from our 62 member schools competed for the 2019 scholarship. Applicants were required Dolls Kill, targeting the South Korean market. to have a G.P.A. greater than 3.00 and to submit their case studies anonymously in order to maintain a Javier Uriegas, University of Texas, Austin nonbiased selection process. Javier’s case study explored how ASOS could enter the South Korean Our reviewing body of 400 FSF mentors, Alumni, and industry partners selected 207 of the submissions e-commerce market. to receive awards of up to $35,000. Through FSF’s efforts to connect with and support underrepresented populations of talent, 23% of the 2019 Scholars were African American, Hispanic/Latino or Native NAMED SCHOLARSHIPS Hawaiian. All 207 scholarship recipients were invited to attend the highly anticipated FSF Awards Gala in Named Scholarships make a difference in the lives of our talented young New York City as FSF’s guests. visionaries while contributing to the vitality of the fashion and related industries. Named Scholarships are created through a gift commitment for a term of at least three years. TOP EIGHT FINALISTS In 2019, the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) provided Of the 207 FSF Scholars, the eight recipients with the highest scores presented their case studies in person funding for ten $5,000 scholarships and Ross Stores, Inc. underwrote to a panel of fashion-industry leaders in New York City. Usually, the judges select one winner for the seven $5,000 scholarships. Additionally, the Zwerner Family, Diane $35,000 FSF Scholarship. In 2019, the judges decided that two recipients deserved the honor. All finalists Edelman and Peter Sachse each provided $5,000 in support for named appeared on stage at the FSF Awards Gala the following evening and the winners were announced. scholarships to our Scholars. 9 10 “I WAS ABLE TO USE MY SCHOLARSHIP MONEY TO STUDY IN PARIS AND WORK IN COLLABORATION WITH LES METIERS D’ART, CHANEL!” Andrea Spiridonakos, 2015 FSF Scholarship Recipient Fashion Institute of Technology 11 ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY AUBURN UNIVERSITY BARNARD COLLEGE BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY FSF BROWN UNIVERSITY CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY MEMBER SCHOOLS In 2019, our 62 member schools included 32 public universities and 30 private colleges/universities. COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO COLUMBUS COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN Through our partnerships with member schools across the country, the FSF has cultivated strong relationships with faculty members who help identify the most promising undergraduates interested in pursuing careers in fashion design, merchandising, marketing and analytics, and supply chain. CORNELL UNIVERSITY DREXEL UNIVERSITY FASHION INSTITUTE OF DESIGN AND MERCHANDISING The academic curriculum among our 62 FSF member schools includes 40 design programs, 42 merchandising and retailing programs, and 43 business programs. FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY GEORGE BROWN COLLEGE We are pleased that 58 of our FSF member schools were ranked among the top schools in the U.S. by discipline HAMILTON COLLEGE HARVARD UNIVERSITY INDIANA UNIVERSITY IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY according to Fashionista.com, FashionSchools.org, Business of Fashion (BOF), and U.S. News and World Report’s Best Colleges and Universities. THOMAS JEFFERSON UNIVERSITY KENT STATE UNIVERSITY LEHIGH UNIVERSITY LIM COLLEGE Percentage of FSF member schools ranked among the top 25 U.S. schools by discipline: MARIST COLLEGE MIAMI INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF ART AND DESIGN NEW YORK UNIVERSITY • 92% of FSF member design schools ranked in the top 25 (23/25) NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY OTIS COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN • 92% of FSF member merchandising / retailing schools ranked in the top 25 (23/25) PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN PRATT INSTITUTE PURDUE UNIVERSITY RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN FSF CAMPUS VISITS SANTA CLARA UNIVERSITY SAVANNAH COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN SPELMAN COLLEGE In 2019, FSF Ambassadors (including Board members, mentors, and Alumni) traveled to 35 member schools across the country. They met with hundreds of STEPHENS COLLEGE SUNY BUFFALO STATE SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY undergraduate students pursuing creative and business disciplines, to announce the 2020 FSF Scholarship competition and encourage