Junior Abby Varn and senior Amy Soma, students in apparel, merchandising and design, were chosen as recipients of the YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund and attended a gala in New York City on Jan. 8.

Iowa State’s apparel, merchandising and design program is one of 32 schools affiliated with the YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund. ISU apparel, merchandising and design students have been awarded more than $125,000 in scholarships since 2006. 

Students are able to put together a resume, an essay, and a case study to submit to a faculty committee who selects finalists to be interviewed by Iowa State’s new YMA representative and mentor, Virginia Mainiero, who is also the vice president and general merchandise manager for Nautica. 

Mainiero and the Board of Governors selected students this past December based on their interviews and case studies for the scholarships and to attend the YMA Award Banquet Gala in New York City. More than 1,500 apparel industry executives attend, and students are able to network with these professionals.

Although many hours of work went into the case study, Soma and Varn enjoyed adding their own creativity and style to the project. The students were required to develop a tween line for a flash retailer in the tween market, specifically retailers like Gilt Groupe, Ideeli, and Rue La La.

“The budget part of the project was concrete, but the rest of the requirements left a lot of room for personality and creativity,” said Varn. “Everything from the name of the new line to garment styles and colors were completely up to each participant. That’s where we were able to show our personal style.”

Soma’s case study proposal incorporated a gaming app to allow tweens to design their own clothing.

“Tweens today are so highly connected to technology and look for an entire experience, not a product,” she said. “I thought my line would be appealing to this market. Designs that people came up with went into a virtual store where users could shop for their personal avatars. The item that is selected most frequently would then be sold as an actual garment in a flash sale on Gilt Groupe.”

On the first day of the trip, Varn and Soma had the entire day to themselves to do some sightseeing in the Big Apple, including a carriage ride through Central Park, Times Square, and of course, shopping on Fifth Avenue.

Both Varn and Soma agreed that the awards banquet and cocktail mixer were the best events of the New York trip.

“The cocktail mixer was the most fun and exciting part of the trip,” Varn said. “Meeting the other scholars and the Board of Governors was a great opportunity. The fashion industry has a reputation of being so cut-throat, so it was refreshing to see that everyone I met was so genuinely nice, welcoming and interested in each other.”

“The awards dinner was by far the fanciest event I have ever attended, and I had the opportunity to network with so many successful industry professionals,” Soma said. “It was unlike anything I have ever experienced.”