Fashion passion wins cash in pockets

A passion for fashion doesn’t have to be rationed, and to prove it, the Fashion Scholarship Fund awarded $270,000 in design and apparel merchandising scholarships this year.

Interested IU students are encouraged to apply.

“Our scholarships are very competitive and higher than the average scholarship awarded to a student interested in a fashion career,” said R. Harry Harrison, scholarship fund executive director. “They also bring an incredible amount of recognition and prestige from a very wide network of industry executives and member companies of our organization.”

The fund, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the cultivation of young fashion up-and-comers, has granted more than $6 million in scholarships since its start in 1971. It has also facilitated student internships with industry powerhouses such as Fendi, Calvin Klein, Polo Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger.

Harrison said recipients of the fund’s aid typically share one common trait.
“Passion, passion, passion,” he said. “Drive, initiative and a commitment to excellence doesn’t hurt.”

Senior Becca Murrow, president of the IU Retail Studies Organization, said she was honored to be one of 54 students recently awarded money from the fund. She was the only winner from IU.

“I was really excited and shocked because I almost didn’t do it,” she said. “I had a lot of other things going on, but a friend of mine convinced me to try. He had won before and now works for Walmart as a buyer.”

Murrow said she locked herself in the library for two days until she completed her contest entry concept.

“I had to identify a market for a certain demographic that was under-served and create a retail store for fall 2009,” she said. “I worked on number spreadsheets, brand identity, colors, fabrics.”

Now, Murrow is competing for the fund’s next prize – the Geoffrey Beene National Scholarship Award.

“I’ve got a month to finish it,” Murrow said. “I’m creating a new brand or private label to put in Macy’s or Nordstrom for females on a budget. I have to make something relevant, something people want to buy.”

If she wins, Murrow will obtain an additional $25,000 to fund the fashion schooling of her choice.

“The industry really excites me,” she said. “I look beyond mainstream.”

This summer, Murrow plans to continue her studies in Italy.

Sophomore Amanda Travis said she also aspires to study fashion in the future and said the scholarships add incentive for students to extend an expensive education during recessional years.

“Our major is one of the fastest-growing because more and more people are finding out about it,” she said. “If our professors teach us anything, it’s to take advantage of future opportunities.”

Travis, who has been creating and donning her own designs since high school, said she wants to study in New York or Chicago, provided the funding.

“Fashion is a part of everyone’s life,” she said. “Who doesn’t get butterflies when watching a fashion show? There’s so much time and dedication put into the industry, and I’m excited to be part of it.”