FirstThree, Inc.: November 2008

, by Mei-Li

The first thing FIDM administration asks is "For those who are on the east coast, why did you choose the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising over FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) in New York?" For me the answer was simple and superficial - I can't stand snow. I grew up in Ohio and I had had enough of it. But that was back in 2004 so in the four years that it took me to actually apply to FIDM my reason matured so here's my journey to my choice.

2004

Just returned from studying at the University of Burgundy in Dijon, France and fell in love with the cultural influences on fashion and figured I could attend fashion school and get a formal study. Plus the fashions I had seen in France didn't reach the US until 4-6 months later and I was fascinated by this, I wanted to be a part of it. Since I lived in France I didn't think California could be too bad. Let's go for it......I punked out.

2006

In an upcoming post I will be talking about "Who is in your Pit Crew" Let's just say I didn't read everyone's resume and let people talk me out of FIDM-fashion school altogether and told me to apply for my MBA, which I did, and didn't get in due to low GRE scores. And you know what? I was okay with that - that was someone else's plan for me and not my own. Remember readers "Your career vehicle was not made for someone else's Freeway." So I moved to Atlanta for 18 months which I loved, but I was trying to make the industry work for me rather than working for the industry and found myself in crazy debt and a very "LL" type situation.
The silver lining to moving to Atlanta was that I LOVE the city! I totally could see myself back there and I was able to see a real need and want for growth in the fashion industry and a global presence there so maybe it was a way of forecasting for my life??? Only time will tell.

2007

In debt and not really living my passion I moved to South Korea to teach English and find myself trying to relate Asian fashion to influences on the runway and how exactly marketing went for American companies such as Guess, FuBu, and Nike. How it was executed what were the differences in the fit of each garment to fit the Asian woman body type, use of color and ethnicities in billboards and print advertising. I was also interested in the interpretation of the Hip Hop culture in different countries in Asia.

This built back up my courage and I quickly got on Skype, borrowed a friends credit card and applied for FIDM on the spot. I did all my entrance projects, scholarship projects, phone interviews, etc, from South Korea many times at 2 or 3 AM my time because of the time difference.

To be sure that I was making the right decision I did more research on schools like SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) and FIT one more time and honestly FIDM just seem to have the most well rounded program that was straight to the point and catered to those with a previous degree. More on that in a minute, because initially I was a bit ignorant of what exactly my classes would entail. I really thought I would only be studying the business of fashion. So not true....

Today

I am at FIDM as a Merchandise Product Development major. What does that mean? Well that means I take both design and business classes. I learn to sketch, sew, and predict next years sales. FIDM is the only school to offer this diverse of a program, and even the faculty say that it is the most well-rounded. I am a bit more right brain than left so working with my hands have proven to be a challenge for me, but I love it. I am being taught and trained to be a Brand Manager, Trend Analyst, Assistant Designer, or Fabric Buyer. Click here for more career options with this major. At the end of the program there is a corporate sponsor such as Forever 21 or Nordstroms and the students are to create a product line for them (ie, bags, shoes, dresses, coats), and present it with textile (fabric) and color samples, measurements of each individual product, the target customer and their lifestyle, and next years' sales predictions.

I used this image on AndSpeakingofPink.com to explain to the readers there more of what I am learning to execute in the industry. For most of my readers here they are working in the industry and understand what this image means to Product Development. (by the way I got this from a Google Search)

But for those of you who don't really know much about the major or FIDM check it out, click the links above and try these as well:

FIDM Fast Track - for HS juniors interested in attending FIDM

Fashion Club- FIDM's fun site

Check them out I really think you will like what you find. And for those thinking of applying to FIDM trust me when I say it's never too late and it's never too early. If it's your dream go for it and don't let anyone slow your journey like I let others slow mine.

Happy Travels!