NEW YORK CITY — May 19, 2022 — Today, May 18, the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), a college of the State University of New York (SUNY), announced that two $25,000 awards for entrepreneurial excellence were presented Tuesday night, May 17, during an event held on campus and hosted by Dr. Brooke Carlson, interim dean, School of Graduate Studies, and the FIT Foundation. Robert (Bob) Fisch, founder and former chairman and CEO of rue21, award-winning author of Fisch Tales: The Making of a Millennial Baby Boomer and the forthcoming Get a Life, and an FIT Foundation director, established the awards to help nurture and advance the careers of outstanding students from FIT’s School of Graduate Studies’ Fashion Design and Global Fashion Management programs.
Fisch, a renowned entrepreneur widely recognized for his bold and successful innovations in value-priced, fast fashion retailing, said: “My FIT experience with the graduate students was inspiring. Their creativity and vision make me want to continue mentoring and helping them achieve their business dreams and goals. They remind and inspire me to never stop learning. Their curiosity is infectious! Being with the students makes me realize I do not know everything and always want to learn. They teach me about life!”
“Bob has a real enthusiasm for the creative ideas of young people and a commitment to listening to them and empowering them to do their best work,” said Dr. Joyce F. Brown, president of FIT. “We are very thankful for his unique suite of gifts for two programs in our School of Graduate Studies—and for his great spirit of generosity.”
“Bob Fisch’s scholarship goes beyond dollars, and includes Bob coming to FIT and to the classroom to mentor the students during ‘Fireside Chats,'” said Dr. Carlson. “Bob provides thoughtful reflections on his many successful years in industry, and his focus on mentoring really comes through as students soak up his sage advice and wisdom. Bob is very approachable, honest, and open-minded, and this is why he has been so well received by the students.”
The Class of 2022 recipients of the Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence are:
Stephanie Kim, Fashion Design MFA, for The Yearbook Committee
The Yearbook Committee is the first-of-its-kind full-service creative design house that provides integrated creative direction, media production, and original costume design with expertise in science fiction. It has the capabilities to produce feature-length films and documentaries, digital media campaigns and customized services. Kim is a two-time Cannes Young Lion winner for graphic design, and her fashion designs have been recognized by the CFDA. Kim earned a BFA in Visual Communication from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Amanda Brown and Eva Carelus, Global Fashion Management MPS, for Maid to Alter
Maid to Alter is a circular, bridesmaid dress brand with rentable dresses that are designed with self-adjustable features so one garment can serve many customers, saving bridesmaids time and money on dress alterations. Brown is a designer at Alex Apparel Group and received a BS in Fashion Merchandising Management from FIT. Carelus is a freelance dress designer at Calvin Klein and received a BFA in Fashion Design from FIT.
The awards are an extension of the comprehensive Bob Fisch Graduate Student Award Program, launched in 2021, which celebrates entrepreneurial excellence and intergenerational mentoring through an initial gift from Fisch of $300,000. The program includes thesis project completion grants, scholarships for FIT’s Fashion Design MFA and Global Fashion Management MPS programs, year-round educational fireside chats led by Fisch, and extraordinary one-on-one and group mentoring sessions.
FIT’s Fashion Design MFA program, established in 2017, focuses on practice-based research. Unconventional in approach, the program welcomes students with non-fashion backgrounds, as well as those with rich traditional undergraduate training in fashion design. The curriculum emphasizes research methodologies and pushes critical thinking that motivate innovation and invention in design, fit, cut, construction, silhouette, and materiality. The Global Fashion Management program emphasizes leadership, applied creativity, problem-solving, and analytical thinking along with effective writing and presentation skills. The curriculum includes courses in production management and supply chain, global marketing and fashion brand management, culture and international business, corporate finance, politics and world trade, business policy, global retail management, entrepreneurship, and leadership.
Posted: May 19, 2022
Source: The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT)
