User:Emma boushie/sandbox

One of the student-run organizations at The Fashion Institute of Technology is the Merchandising Society. The Merchandising Society is composed of Fashion Design and Fashion Merchandising Management majors who run a clothing store on FIT’s campus called “The Style Shop”. Famous fashion designers that attended the Fashion Institute of Technology include Calvin Klein and Michael Kors, who later went on to design and merchandise their own fashion collections. Therefore this organization is important because it introduces members to merchandising, as well as giving real-world experience into different functional areas of business. It creates connections with professionals in industries; including fashion and retail. This past year, the organization had an Associate Buyer from Christian Louboutin who graduated with a Fashion Business Merchandising degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology. It leads to supplementing curriculum with experiences, collaborating with other students, understanding self identity, and advancing professionalism. The Merchandising Society is composed of three different buying teams - the industry buying team, the vintage buying team, the designer buying team, as well as the Product Development team. The industry buying team purchases products from wholesalers, the vintage buying team adds an element of unique fashion history in the store by purchasing items from thrift stores in the city, and the designer team buys pieces made by FIT students. The Product Development team creates FIT and Style Shop collaboration items to sell at the Style Shop, more centered around meeting the needs of the target market of FIT students. In addition to the buying teams, members can also become involved with Visual Merchandising, Marketing, Public Relations, Operations, Human Resources, and Finance.