Nine lucky students traveled with Dr. Andy Reilly to one of the largest fashion conventions in the world in Las Vegas, February 14 and 15.  Each year, “Magic” attracts vendors and manufacturers from around the world to showcase their collections to industry buyers.  This event is not open to the public, but as faculty, Dr. Reilly was able to take students to experience this aspect of the fashion industry. 

Students attended Magic’s industry seminars at the Las Vegas Convention Center, students attended industry seminars.  One seminar provided an overview of branding; did you know that brands have eight seconds to get a message across to a potential customer on social media?  Another seminar included representatives from the manufacturing industries in Africa, Egypt, and Sri Lanka, who talked about their workforce skills and regional resources.  According to Stephanie Sirju, the trip “made me appreciate my fashion degree beyond what I had in the past and left me with lifelong knowledge, advice, and connections with amazing people.  Not only that, this event put you in a very realistic environment and I’ve learned to navigate myself in fashion environments a lot better.” .......For more information, click the following "Read more" button.

Dr. Shu-Hwa Lin, Department of Family & Consumer Sciences Fashion Design & Merchandising, leads a group of UH students (including one FDM, one Business, and three Engineering students) and one Textile & apparel student from Washing State University to attend the NASA MITTIC Fall 2023 Pitch competition. These six students and Dr. Shu-Hwa Lin were invited to visit Houston, TX, for three days to give a poster presentation, an oral presentation, and an exciting VIP tour of NASA, which included the Mission Control Center, Training Center, and Rocket Center. Participants are Chester Leoso, Matthew Kirimitsu, Johnathan Hollis, Alexander Castillo, Johnell Ladera (from UH), and Nehemiah Duran (from Washington State University). All students presented very outstanding and professional presentations. Dr. Lin expressed that she was proud of students’ outstanding performances (both poster and oral presentations). Watch the video (LINK) -written by Shu-Hwa Lin

Listen to one of UHM's very own Fashion Design Merchandising professors, Dr. Andy Reilly talks about the meanings of dress, why people wear clothing, and why it is important. He discusses the origin of clothing (was it protection or something else like status or ritual), the power of consumers, and how clothing is a dynamic reflection of culture, society, psychology, economy, politics, art, philosophy, and technology (LINK: Spotify for Podcaster) -written by Michael Davis