At the University of Maryland, it can sometimes be difficult to imagine that students on this campus are interested in fashion when all you see are clones of girls walking around in leggings, oversized sweaters, riding boots, and a Longchamp tote bag.
Brittany McCoy, a junior marketing major and the co-founder of MasTERPiece, a new fashion entrepreneurship club on campus, believes that fashionistas do exist at UMD.
“I feel like there are a lot more people on this campus who are interested in fashion,” McCoy said.
The club’s goal is to bring students who are interested in fashion various speakers, workshops, designers and bloggers that can further inform them about the industry, as well as partner with other students who have their own businesses.
“ We provide a lot of resources for fashion entrepreneurs,” McCoy said.
So far McCoy and co-founder Fei Mancho, a senior marketing major, have listened to their members to see what they are interested in.
“A lot of our members expressed wanting to learn tie-dye and sewing,” McCoy said.
They have already held a tie-dye workshop this semester and hope to hold more workshops in the future, but without funding the group pays for everything themselves. They provide materials for the workshops, food for meetings, and have to rent projectors from the school.
“It is strenuous trying to get money from SGA,” McCoy said.
McCoy hopes to get funding soon so that they can continue to bring great opportunities to their members. The duo hopes to increase participation and reach more students and possibly have a conference next semester where industry professionals would come to speak.
The growing interest in fashion at UMD can also be seen through the different companies that have a presence on campus, like boohoo, a UK based retailer.
“Boohoo has gone from the UK’s best kept secret to one of the fastest growing international e-tailers,” Holly Marriott, an international marketing assistant at boohoo, said. “Boohoo.com has quickly evolved into a global fashion leader of its generation.”
The company caters to 16-28 year olds looking for affordable style and not only offers women’s clothing, but a menswear, plus size, and sportswear line, Marriott said.
Boohoo launched their Style Squad Ambassadors program in September, which gives campus representatives at colleges around the United States the opportunity to increase boohoo.com brand awareness overseas. At the University of Maryland, Natalie Kocab is tasked with updating social media, planning events and spreading the word to peers.
“The UMD team are amazing, they have gained a big social following on their boohoo Maryland Facebook, Twitter & Instagram pages,” Marriott said.
At UMD there are also campus representatives for Victoria’s Secret and Trend Tribe, an accessories company where everything is priced under $50, according to the company’s website.
Trend Tribe’s campus Trendsetters host trunk shows, and give a portion of the sales to a philanthropy of their choice. Trendsetters like UMD’s Olivia Collins, gain social media and event planning skills.
Trend Tribe at UMD partnered with MasTERPiece to Skype with the CEO of Trend Tribe Samantha Cooper, to give members valuable information on how to start a business.
“It went really well,” McCoy said.
Collins could not be reached for comment.
McCoy hopes that through all her efforts that one day UMD will have a fashion program like a fashion merchandising major or minor.