An ISU student’s dream came true when she got to work with one of the hottest new designers in the fashion industry. She sewed, did bead work and hemmed gowns that would be worn by celebrities who grace the covers of People and USA Today.

Sounds like a movie, right? For Jennifer Flack, senior in apparel merchandising, design and production, this was reality.

Last year, Flack went on a field study to New York with her textiles and clothing class to visit clothing manufacturers and learn about the fashion industry.

This trip gave her connections to famous designers she had only dreamt of meeting.

At an alumni dinner during the trip, ISU alumna Jennifer Reicherts introduced herself as the assistant designer for Marchesa, a line produced by up-and-coming designers Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig. Marchesa is known for its high-end gowns that have been worn by A-list celebrities such as Anne Hathaway, Renée Zellweger and Jessica Alba.

“I wasn’t going to let her leave without talking to me,” Flack said.

After a brief conversation, the two exchanged e-mail addresses, and a few days later, Reicherts offered Flack a summer intern position that she couldn’t refuse.

Ann Thye, academic adviser in apparel education studies and hospitality management, accompanied the group on the New York trip.

“Many students come away from this experience with connections and internship opportunities,” Thye said. “Our department usually has about 60 to 100 interns working all across the country during the summer. Last summer we had about 30 interns in New York City alone.”

During her time at Marchesa last summer, Flack did everything but basic intern work. She worked with the actual dresses, re-beading them and cleaning up the designs to make them easier to mass-produce.

Flack said she felt like she was part of the staff and was “helping the designers realize their vision.”

As summer came to an end, Flack was asked to return in the fall and again in the spring for Fashion Week. She skipped a week of school in early February and flew out to New York to help with the event. Flack worked from sunrise to sunset, lending a hand wherever she was needed.

It wasn’t until the end of the week that she was invited on an all-expense-paid trip to Paris for Market Week. This is a time for store buyers to check out the upcoming season’s fashions.

Flack’s immediate reaction was that the offer couldn’t possibly be real.

“This is what happens in movies,” Flack said. “I thought I was being ‘Punk’d’ and I kept asking them where Ashton Kutcher was.”

Less than a month later, Flack boarded a plane for Paris. The Waterloo native was excited to travel out of the country for the first time but knew that, although she would be staying in a luxurious hotel in the middle of Paris, her time there would not be a vacation – it was work.

The days were filled with visits with buyers from all around the world. Flack’s main duty was to dress models in the intricate garments designed by Chapman and Craig.

“Those dresses were a pain,” Flack said. “They were pretty, don’t get me wrong, but they had inner corsets and multiple layers which made them difficult to put on the models.”

Flack worked long hours and often had little time to rest.

“There were so many buyers there to see Marchesa’s new line that I remember dressing models for five hours straight without any break,” Flack said. “I even pulled an all-nighter while I was there.”

Upon returning to Iowa State, Flack immersed herself in designing her senior collection – which will be showcased at the ISU Fashion Show on April 25. Flack describes her collection as similar to Marchesa’s style.

“I spent so much time immersing myself in their designs and thinking about what they would like,” Flack said. “I think that I have picked up some of their aesthetic touches.”

Flack has been so busy designing her senior collection that she has not had a chance to start looking at jobs for after graduation.

“Eventually, I would like to be a designer, but I still have so much to learn about the industry,” she said.

Although she is uncertain where she will be working after she graduates in the spring, Flack knows her experience with Marchesa will look impressive to any prospective employer.

“I am so thankful for everything they let me do,” Flack said. “I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would have been able to work with such amazing designers.”