Our Story
Our story began the same way this retelling does: with a blank document and a whole lot of ideas.
People interested in business have Ross. People interested in sports have the Sport Management program. People interested in law have public policy. But Ali Gropper was interested in fashion. And without a University of Michigan-fed opportunity to mesh her interests with her education, Ali took the deficit into her own hands. Thus, the Michigan Fashion Media Summit was conceived.
Our mission is to inspire and educate the next generation of fashion industry leaders by connecting them to creative and professional opportunities across the retail world. We are shaping the future fabric of fashion with a platform that the University hasn’t seen before. What better way to expose fashion than to be it: to defeat the deficit, transform the narrative, and influence the future.
So we set out to build a team. With a single flyer, an application was released and we quickly discovered that the way we felt about the deficit was mutual. With over one hundred others. Our team is comprised of forty people with diverse backgrounds and different ideas, contributing to a unique conversation each time an idea is brought to the table. And that’s just what makes our idea so unique in the first place. Our members have started their own brands, spent their summers at Parsons, and are equipped to put on the Michigan Fashion Media Summit not just this year but for years to come.
The Partnerships team funds it. The Marketing team sells it. The Finance team tracks it. The Event Planning Team runs it. The Michigan Fashion Media Summit? Well, that is it.
We are going to disrupt the status quo of not just how fashion is perceived on campus, but also the means by which students on campus enter the industry. We understand that getting a foot in the door is as difficult as acquiring the Fantasy Bra at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. But we’re not deterred by the vaulted door; rather, its locks have motivated us to generate this disruptive idea we call the Michigan Fashion Media Summit and, in turn, bridge the gap between students interested in pursuing a career in the industry and the professionals the currently comprise it.
Our summit is a one-day only event hosting industry-defining keynotes, unparalleled networking, and revolutionary panels on April 13, 2018 at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business. Are you coming?