What Getting Dressed Teaches You About Business
MK Byrne ’13: Fashion in business often has two options: business formal or business casual. But Babson students have found more ways to see fashion through the lens of a business education.
The Luxury and Fashion Association (LFA) brings together people who are interested in fashion or working towards careers in the fashion industry. The club now serves over 40 members (mostly girls) who connect over interest in careers like retail management but also events like fashion shows, design workshops, and field trips. The LFA connected with a Babson student blogger, Annie Maraschiello, to bring an innovative online retailer, Gretchy.com, to campus to talk about the online retail industry.
Annie is one of many bloggers on campus. She runs a fashion and cosmetics blog, MissGlamourGirl, showcasing her picks for aspirational, high fashion brands and outfits. She’s gotten nearly a quarter million page views on her blog, which she updates several times a week.
But of course there’s also what Babson students actually wear. Jordan Sellers (Class of 2013) started an online blog, BLEUDENIM.com, which sparks from his love of fashion and study of business. He often posts photos of everyday outfits worn on Babson’s campus along with his analysis of their style (two examples here and here). He says, “Using [a] painting as an example, to me style starts as a blank canvas…however, with each additional piece you add to the mix or stroke you add to the canvas, you are reaching closer to a breaking point.”
So what about business? In the foundation curriculum of Babson, students learn how to make decisions about balancing an additional investment that could make the business a success with bringing the cash flow closer to the breaking point. According to one Babson blogger, those decisions are linked to something as (seemingly) simple as deciding what to wear in the morning.
(Photo Credit: http://shesdaily.blogspot.com/2011/03/corporate-dressing-basics-5-fashion.html)
MK Byrne, Class of 2013