Fashion Merchandising

Jessica Wilhelm will be speaking about sourcing and sharing stories about traveling overseas on Thursday, August 25th at 5:00pm in room 4.

After graduating from VMCAD, Jessica was offered a position at Improvements Catalog.  As the Sourcing Specialist for the catalog, Jessica has successfully developed hundreds of direct import products and has built strong relations with their overseas partners.  In this position, Jessica has had the opportunity to travel to six countries.

Hadi Kadri will be speaking about branding on Wednesday, August 24th from 10:00am to 11:40am in the Virginia Marti College of Art and Design auditorium.

Hadi Kadri specializes in helping clients target their ideal audiences and achieve measurable results through social, print, online and interactive media.  He has worked with many reputable organizations over the last 19 years including Coldwater Creek, Chrysler, The UPS Store and Auto Week Magazine.

Sean Bilovecky of Dredgers Union will be speaking about costing and domestic production this Thursday, August 18th at 5:00pm in room 4 at Virginia Marti College of Art and Design.  

Sean is owner of The Dredgers Union – a 4,500 square foot store featuring a wide variety of home goods and mens' and womens' apparel. The Dredgers Union is located in the heart of Cleveland's East 4th Street.

EVENT LOCATION:
Virginia Marti College of Art and Design, Room 4

11724 Detroit Avenue

Lakewood, OH 44107

Thursday, August 18th at 5:00pm

Larry Pollock, President and Chief Operating Officer or Cole National Corporation, will be speaking to Virginia Marti College of Art and Design students and staff on Tuesday, May 17th from 7:30pm to 8:30pm in the Auditorium. Mr. Pollock's company owns Pearle Vision stores, Cole Vision optical stores and Things Remembered personalized gift stores. Together, the two businesses maintain 2,900 locations in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Mr. Pollock has been a partner in the Independent Group Limited Partnership and an owner of broadcast properties. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Borders Group, Inc., which operates Borders Books and Walden Books, and CardinalCommerce.com, Inc. Virginia Marti College is honored to host such a distinguished guest and cordially invite anyone interested in learning about entrepreneurship and best business practices.

Fashion merchandising visited Ohio Knitting Mills to gain insight into the pop-up retail experience. This is a 21st century retail trend continuing to grow. Students learned about the retail brand experience and the historical and cultural aspect of Cleveland's fashion history as well. http://www.ohioknittingmills.com/