VIP Fashion Business Trip to New York City

For the 2017 edition of LaSalle College’s annual VIP Fashion Business Trip, 52 students from the Fashion Design and Fashion Marketing programs travelled to the fashion capital of North America; New York City. 

They got the chance to explore the renowned Metropolitan Museum of Arts (MET) through the Fashion in Art tour. This was followed by a unique guided tour of the world’s most luxurious retailers of 5^th Avenue given by Windowswear. The students also had the exclusive opportunity to visit the head offices of some of the fashion industry’s biggest names.

Under the supervision of Yolande Nesseth, the first group visited The Row, CFDA award winning womenswear brand created by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in 2006. The students got the chance to speak to employees from marketing, production and public relations. 

Afterwards they were welcomed at the headquarters of the American cult brand, Gap. From discovering and going through their extensive archives to meeting with the analysts and planners of their “fitness and lounge wear” lines, the students had an utmost motivational morning.

The second group of students, accompanied by Lili Desrochers, spent the first half of their morning on a private tour of the most respected luxury department store in the United States, Saks & co. Fifth Avenue. Led by the stores director of visual merchandising, they received intel on the store’s operations, from personal shopping services, to brand merchandising as well as special events coordination. 

Afterwards, the group made their way to the offices of LaForce, a full service communications agency whose client list includes Target, Abercrombie & Fitch, Swarovski and many more. Two of their account managers discussed topics such as influencer relations, designer collaboration, media training and re-branding strategies.

Finally, all the participants got to visit the offices of the leading international trend forecasting group, WGSN. The meeting was nothing short of inspiration and many were able to check something off their bucket list on that day.