A pair of South Carolina student-athletes hit “the Big Apple” recently for a chance learn more about their prospective careers by taking part in New York Fashion Week. CLC, the nation’s leading collegiate licensing company, and IMG, the operator of New York Fashion Week, partner to provide this one-of-a-kind educational experience to more than two dozen students from around the country each year.
“I wanted to go because I wanted confirmation to see if I wanted to continue in retail and fashion design,” said Jalen Clark, a junior on the track and field team, who is majoring in retail management. “This offered me that confirmation, and I want to continue to pursue it. I’ve always wanted to own my own business or maybe even get into modeling, so I thought this was a great major for me to pursue. I’ve done some designs myself, and I’d like to continue to work on that as well.”
“I have family friends who are in the fashion industry, and they started the Obey Clothing Company,” said Misa Malkin, a junior on the women’s tennis team, who is studying sport management. “That sort of opened my eyes to what I wanted to do. Going into sport management, I didn’t think about going into the fashion industry, but this past year I had the opportunity to dabble in it a little bit at an event for (student-athletes) sophomores, and I was able to do their makeup, and that sort of got me excited about it. I was getting interested in the marketing of it. When I found out about this, I thought it was a great opportunity to tie in marketing, fashion, and media. I would eventually like to start my own clothing brand.”
The unique program gives future fashion leaders a behind-the-scenes look at the industry as students have opportunities to attend a runway show, meet with industry executives, and enjoy panel discussions. Clark had visited the city several times before, while it was Malkin’s first trip to New York, but they were equally excited about the experience.
“We spoke with a lot of the directors, managers, designers, and everyone that was part of the fashion industry at Champion headquarters,” Malkin said. “We toured their facility, and they showed us what we could possibly do in the future. We were able to customize our own hoodies and apparel. So, that gave me a little taste of what it could be like to be a designer. That was really awesome. The following day, we went to the fashion show, and my jaw just dropped! That lit a spark…