MATC Matters

A group of 18 students from Madison Area Technical College’s Fashion Marketing program, lead by Betty Hurd and Mae Laatsch in conjunction with students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Retailing program, recently went to New York City to meet with key industry professionals in the fashion industry.

Students had the opportunity to visit buying market showrooms where retailers buy their merchandise. They learned about how North America’s largest denim textile manufacturer works to get denim to the retailers and visited a color forecasting company to understand how color predictions are made for future seasons.

Most notably, the group met with designer George Simonton, who was featured in the March 20 issue of Women’s Wear Daily (WWD). Simonton will have his own television show airing on September 1, 2007, titled “I have Nothing to Wear.” In addition, the students met with Serena Tate, a MATC alumni attending the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).

The opportunity to learn from such seasoned veterans, who took a sincere interest in helping mentor the students from each class, was priceless. Students said in surveys how much they learned about how the different parts of the industry interacted and were dependent on each other, along with the importance of networking and professional behaviors needed to succeed.