Kent State University students who study in New York City should definitely bring their walking shoes.
The university's New York Study Tour is a 3-credit course that provides fashion students with guided, weekly site visits to domestic or foreign fashion markets, including design and fabric houses or showrooms, retail stores, buying offices and other areas of the fashion industry.
Kent State Today recently tagged along with about a dozen students as they visited one of New York's most popular attractions: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
"The NYC Study Tour class provides the students with a holistic view of the fashion industry through these visits," said Aanchal Bakshi, outreach program coordinator, NYC Fashion. "The purpose is for the students to have a better understanding of not just design or merchandising, but all aspects of the fashion industry. Tours also tend to include museum trips to fashion or fashion-adjacent exhibitions in NYC."
Field trips for each Study Tour section are dependent on the instructor, as they often utilize their own network of connections, Bakshi said. Students often visit businesses within the Garment District including such companies as Anybag, M&S Schmalberg Custom Fabric Flowers, Create-A-Marker and the NYC Fair Trade Coalition. Museums are also a common field trip destination with visits to Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Broadway
"The tour class is grounded in immersive and experiential learning, and a great example of how studying away at the NYC Fashion campus allows students to get a jump-start on their careers in the fashion industry prior to graduation," said Ann Mariko Walter, director, NYC Fashion.
Walter notes that the field trips provide students with an opportunity to network with fashion industry professionals and successful Kent State alumni. The connections help students develop a better understanding of the wide scope of career paths in fashion and fashion-adjacent areas such as beauty, accessories, wellness, home and media.
Visit the NYC Fashion to learn more about opportunities for fashion students in New York City.
Learn more about Kent State University NYC Fashion here.
Top photo: Senior Samantha Delimer ponders various works of art at The MET during a class tour in NYC
Photos provided by Rami Daud.
Video provided by Ashton Blake, Gracie Ford and Eric Mansfield.