Workshop Recap: My Week at FIT

As I approached the FIT campus on August 1st, all I could see was very excited girls and boys from all different ages and ethnicities eager to take on the next four days at FIT. Materials and bags in hand, we all headed to our different classrooms. Once in my Fashion Forecasting class, our professor, Nancy Ostroff, asked us to introduce ourselves, talk about our career plans and explain our expectations of the course. Immediately, she met all of my expectations.

On our first lecture, we were taught the basics of fashion forecasting such as color, trend reporting companies, specifications and how to spot trends. It didn’t take long until we were given our first big challenge: The Final Project, which we were to present on the last day (August 4th). At 12:30 we went to lunch when I had time to get to know a little bit more my new friend Courtney. Right after lunch, our professor took us to the Museum at FIT for a presentation of 20th century fashion. It was a very interesting showing of real 20th century garments made by designers as Coco Chanel, Halston and Christian Dior.

Day number two promised to be a fun learning experience since we were told we were going to the Meatpacking District to spot trends at various stores. But before we went on a field trip, we went to the FIT Gladys Marcus Library to get a look at the trend forecasting tools available to FIT students. We learned about companies such as the Doneger Group, WGSN, Fashion Snoops and Style Sight and the difference between hard copy forecasting and online forecasting. After lunch, we headed to the Meatpacking District! Once we got there, we instantly got to work. Our task for the day was to spot trends, well and poorly sold items, size range, specifications and colors. Courtney and I decided to go with Moschino, Alexander McQueen, Diane von Furstenberg and Mathew Williamson.

On day three, we started working on our final projects at one of the FIT computer labs. Major research was required to complete our final project, which was to forecast trends for Fall 2011 or Spring 2012 on a Power Point presentation. Courtney, my partner, and I decided to forecast the 60’s trend for Fall 2011 which we called “The Twiggy comeback”. On the afternoon, we had another field trip but this time to the Flatiron District where we spotted trends at stores like Zara, H & M, American Apparel, Kate Spade and Club Monaco.

At last, the final day on our four-day challenge at FIT arrived. In the morning we were given time to finish up our final presentations, completed a program survey and went to the Museum at FIT to see the Sporting Life exhibit. Right after lunch, we started to present our final projects to the class. I was very nervous and anxious about showing my final presentation, but it seemed that we were all on the same track. When the clock stroke 4:30, we were all finished up with our presentations and headed out to our hometowns. But this time, we were coming home with a great experience in memory in which we learned, laughed and enjoyed what we love the most: Fashion. Personally, I loved the Fashion Forecasting workshop. Wonderful girls such as Liz, Margaret, Courtney, Flannery, Kate and Lauren (just to mention a few) joined me in this amazing experience. These past four days served as an impulse to take the next steps towards moving to New York and studying at FIT.

Frances


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One response to “Workshop Recap: My Week at FIT”

  1. daisy Avatar

    fashion forecasting is such an awesome class! Good luck on your journey to the big apple! 😀