Monday, November 10, 2025
Media Contact:
Christy Lang | Director, Marketing and Communications | 405-744-9740 | [email protected]
The College of Education and Human Sciences’ Department of Design and Merchandising
welcomed 54 highschool college students, together with dad and mom and lecturers, at its All Walks,
One Runway occasion on Nov. 5. Participating college students discovered in regards to the fashion-focused
diploma paths provided at Oklahoma State University and obtained a style of the design {industry}.
After checking in for the day, college students selected three of 9 breakout periods to attend,
with subjects together with trend enterprise and branding, trend know-how and innovation,
textile science and material fundamentals, sustainability trend and extra.
“The key enchantment for college students lies in understanding that trend is extra than simply
clothes — it is a dynamic, forward-thinking {industry} the place creativity, know-how,
enterprise, sustainability and social influence converge,” mentioned Heather Pidcock, a trend
merchandising graduate scholar who helped put collectively the 3D know-how breakout
class together with two different college students.
The breakout periods had been held in design labs and school rooms, offering college students
with entry to state-of-the-art know-how utilized by OSU college students and demonstrating
that trend encompasses many elements of science and know-how.
“By discovering how trend can function artwork, advocacy, innovation and entrepreneurship,
college students begin to see themselves not as passive observers, however as changemakers who
can design for various our bodies, cultures and causes,” Pidcock mentioned.
Department head Dr. Lynn Boorady mentioned that her major aim for this occasion was to
deliver consciousness to design and merchandising as a level monitor and to indicate college students
that the style {industry} is a good place to pursue a profession, regardless of the place
their passions lie. OSU provides diploma choices in apparel design and technology and fashion merchandising.
“We need college students to know there are nice jobs on this {industry} and that OSU will help
information them to an ideal profession within the trend {industry}, it doesn’t matter what their pursuits
are,” Boorady mentioned.
At lunchtime, a panel of OSU college students — Erin Payne, Ayden Black, Zoe Hoffman, Madelyn
Campbell and Georgia Matthews — shared about their summer time internships. With experiences
starting from bridal and formal put on design to attire design for Hobby Lobby, OSU
college students provided recommendation on discovering an internship and succeeding within the trend diploma
applications.
“Every scholar on the panel had a novel story, and it confirmed what number of instructions
you’ll be able to take with a trend diploma from OSU. I beloved that the highschool college students
may see that there’s not only one ‘fashion path’ and that success can look completely different
for everybody,” Payne mentioned. “It’s laborious to suit every part into one panel, however even in
that quick time, I feel we highlighted how supportive the school are, what number of alternatives
there are for internships and tasks and how the group inside the program actually
stands out.”
Before the tip of the day, college students had the prospect to strive their hand at designing
a line of clothes. By considering of an all-new model identify, emblem, tagline, audience
and a number of outfit concepts, college students obtained a glimpse of what it is perhaps like to review trend
merchandising or attire design and know-how at OSU.
High college college students showcased their inventive skills by producing concepts resembling
formal put on for kids, and they honed their communication abilities by presenting
their concepts to their friends. These actions are a daily facet of scholar life
for present design and merchandising majors, some of whom stayed to assist college students
with their designs.
“We are the one program in Oklahoma the place you’ll be able to be taught each design and the enterprise
of trend. Our curriculum is industry-informed, together with our new Digital Product
Creation certificates, which had been developed alongside {industry} professionals and vetted
by way of over 50 main corporations to make sure our college students can get jobs on this space,”
Boorady mentioned.
“We not solely take a look at what the {industry} is doing at present — we wish to know the place
the {industry} will likely be when our college students graduate in 4 years, and we work towards
a curriculum that helps them for the longer term.”
For extra details about design and merchandising profession paths, program highlights
and admissions particulars, go to the Department of Design and Merchandising website.
Story By:
Faith Frantz | [email protected]