As fashion is one of the most competitive industries to break into, Immaculata University prepares its students for the challenges, setbacks, and successes they could face through their Fashion Merchandising courses.

Not only does Immaculata provide students with hands-on experiences with fashion and design centers in New York, but the University has established impressive networking that enables students to secure internships with QVC, Burlington, Boscov’s, and other local companies. Student courses involve the business and the creative side of the fashion industry, including working with clients for class projects, including the Industry Challenge each semester.

Fashion merchandising majors Elysia Smith, Olivia Thorpe, Sarah Klaproth, Alison Furman, and Hailey Murphy faced a new challenge in their fall 2023 Industry Challenge class that none of them had seen yet: building an app for a Philadelphia-based clothing brand, NINObrand, owned by Bela Shehu.

Thorpe and Furman had taken the Industry Challenge class already and developed different skillsets in the previous course, but neither had ever created an app before.

“I was a little nervous in the beginning, but I took the time to stop and think about this opportunity to get my hands on something I haven’t tried before,” said Thorpe. “Through this experience, I was able to grow and learn something new.”

Split into two teams that would compete against one another, students utilized software Bubble.io to build the application. The project took the entire semester to complete through research, design, discussions with Shehu, and ultimately presenting the finished product at the end of the class.

Smith served as team captain and Thorpe oversaw research for their team, an important task that allowed her to look closely at how other clothing brands design their apps and expanded her knowledge on how to use Bubble.io to create the app. She observed apps from Adidas, Nike, Amazon, and Stitch Fix due to their experience in the fashion industry. Her two other group members focused on marketing and graphic design, as well as building and configuring the app itself.

Furman was part of a two-person team with Murphy, where she worked on the design of her team’s app. They helped each other whenever necessary and became more hopeful about the outcome of their project as the semester went on.

“This was completely different than what we did before, but I knew that we would have a good experience even if things don’t turn out the way you expect,” Furman said.

Both teams worked to include Shehu’s ideas and tips into the apps. With high expectations riding on their success, both apps came out functional and dynamic, with all team members gaining skills and a sense of accomplishment for their semester-long assignment.

“We had a vision at the start, but we hit roadblocks that changed the whole path of the project,” Furman said. “But it’s meant to be a challenge. We ended up somewhere different, but I think it was better than we planned.”

Thorpe added, “We were impressed with what we did. It was important to keep an open mind and be flexible throughout the process.”

Learn more about Immaculata University’s Fashion Merchandising major.