Bai Li earned an M.S. degree in Fashion and Apparel Studies and a graduate certificate in Socially Responsible and Sustainable Apparel Business from UD in 2018. Prior to coming to UD, Bai received her B.S. degree from Donghua University in Shanghai, China, during which she spent time as an exchange student in fashion communication in the Istituto Europeo di Design, Italy. Her research at UD focused on functional design, 3D virtual prototyping, and sustainability.  She joined the Phase 1 EPA P3 (People, Planet, Profit) Student Sustainable Design Project with Professors Cobb and Cao. She presented the results of that project with the team at the TechConnect World Innovation Conference, the largest global innovation program in physical and life science in Washington, D.C. in 2017, the 2018 annual ITAA conference, and to industry experts (Nike, Under Armour).

Bai is currently a PhD student in the Biomechanics and Movement Science program at UD. She is engaging in research under Dr. Lobo in the Move2Learn Innovation Lab, Department of Physical Therapy. Working on a project supported by National Science Foundation (NSF), she designs and develops an exoskeletal garment to help children with muscular weakness move, play, and perform their daily activities. She aims to drive the development of new technologies in the fashion industry to help solve some of the society’s most pressing problems such as improving health related quality of life.

Alexandra Cowie graduated UD in May 2017 with a B.S. in both Apparel Design and Fashion Merchandising. As a student, she was heavily involved in leadership positions in the Gamma Phi Beta Sorority and had the opportunity to study abroad in Paris, France in the winter of 2016 with the Fashion Program. While in Paris, Alexandra had the incredible experience of interning at Elie Saab’s S/S 2016 Haute Couture Fashion Week. In addition, she was a Design Intern for Jessica Howard Daytime Dresses at the G-III Apparel group in the summer of 2016. In the spring of her senior year, Alexandra was awarded “Best-in-Show” of the Senior Collections category in the Synergy Fashion Show.

Alexandra is currently a Knit Fabric Associate for the Surface Design Execution, Color, Fabric, and Trim Team at Lilly Pulitzer®, LLC. Some of her responsibilities include managing the execution of knit fabrics by tracking the status of any sample yardage put into work and follow up with the mills for on time delivery of each submit. She manages bulk fabric yardage and the test report approval process by working with vendors to communicate expectations clearly. In addition, she maintains reports and systems for all knit fabrics including working with a Web PDM system by updating costs, test reports and any new or changing information.

Aside from her full-time job, Alexandra works on her start-up leather goods and accessories business called Alexandra Blvd. She designs custom handbags and uses the excess material to make smaller accessories such as jewelry and keychains to promote sustainable production practices. Alexandra Blvd can currently be found on Etsy and is hoping to enter small boutiques in the near future!  https://www.etsy.com/shop/AlexandraBlvd

Amalia Escobar graduated UD in May 2016 with a B.S. in Fashion Merchandising. Throughout her time at the University, she was heavily involved with various campus organizations. She was a part of UDress magazine, UD’s student chapter of American Association of Textiles Chemists and Colorists (AATCC), and held leadership positions in Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority. Amalia had the incredible opportunity to travel abroad in Hong Kong for an entire summer and intern with Under Armour. During her last year she was also able to study abroad in Paris with the Apparel Studies program and helped during Fashion Week.

Currently, Amalia works as a Product Developer for Under Armour. She began her journey based out of headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland and has recently been relocated to the regional LATAM office in Panama. Amalia works closely with designers, sourcing partners, and project line managers in reviewing prototypes and strike offs for approval from concept to production. She has specialized in post embellishment techniques such as screen-printing and embroideries across 10+ product categories. Amalia collaborates with her cross-functional teams to meet margin target, buy ready factors, and production timelines. Within her role she has had the opportunity to travel around the world to visit factories to approve garments, confirm product is meeting quality standards, and ensure vendors are aligned on UA process. Amalia’s favorite part of the job is working directly in factories and getting to learn more about each operation, focusing in on quality control, and finding new ways to improve process.

Megan Dawson-Elli graduated Cum Laude from UD in 2016 with a B.S. in Fashion Merchandising. While at the university she was a Resident Assistant, studied abroad in Hong Kong, and helped form UD's student chapter of the American Association of Textiles Chemists and Colorists (AATCC). Megan also was a Young Menswear Association Fashion Scholarship Fund two-time winner and a semi-finalist for the National Retail Federation's Next Generation Scholarship.

Megan is an Assistant Merchant for the Dresses and Woven Tops teams at LOFT. Her responsibilities include assisting her teams with various steps in the product life cycle including line building, creating hindsight documents, and working within the assortment sheet to ensure accurate information throughout the process.  She works with design, planning, and sourcing teams as products move from concepts to being sold in stores. Specifically Megan works with the e-commerce channel which involves communicating with website builders and assisting with the merchandising of products online. Megan's favorite parts of her job at LOFT are working with great people and continuously learning more about the fashion industry. 

​Kamryn Mogul is a Production Associate Manager of Handbags and SLGs at Tory Burch, LLC. She graduated from UD in 2014 with a BS in Apparel Design and Fashion Merchandising. At Tory Burch Kamryn oversees all steps of product development and production, beginning with the first design and continuing through product delivery to the DC’s and accounts. She works as a liaison between design, merchandising, sales, logistics, and the factories. Kamryn diligently communicates with overseas factories on a day to day basis. When speaking with the factories she relays all information for product changes, creates purchase orders, negotiates pricing and ship modes, and follows up on each style to ensure production is on schedule. She is notified of all delays and suggests solutions in order to maintain on time delivery performance. Kamryn also reviews TOP’s throughout production and is accountable for product integrity. Previously to her current role on the Handbag and Accessories team, Kamryn worked on the production team in shoes with Tory Burch. She has also worked in ready to wear as she began her career with Ralph Lauren on the women’s polo knits team in 2014. Outside of Tory Burch Kamryn is an avid winter sports enthusiast including skiing and hiking, while also sharing a love for boating and beach trips during the summer months.

Callie Weldon graduated from the University of Delaware with a BS in Fashion Merchandising and a minor in Advertising. Upon graduating, Callie received a grant position from the US Department of Treasury to build and implement a new wholesale channel for a textile weaving cooperative in Peru. Additionally, Callie worked as the wholesale manager for fair trade jewelry organization, BeadforLife. In both roles, she acted as a liaison between western buyers and the artisan producer groups while strategically growing each organization's channels.

Callie received her MBA in Global, Social, and Sustainable Enterprises from Colorado State University in 2018. During the program, she launched a  business called Fair Fiber, which produces sustainable performance materials made from fair trade alpaca. Callie works with a cooperative of over 200 farmers in Peru to source fiber and provides socially and environmentally conscious fabric options for large outdoor retail brands. 

Currently, Callie manages Fair Fiber out of her home in Boulder, CO and also works as the Sustainable Sourcing Manager for the Clothing and Accessories categories at the social venture, EarthHero. 

​Ashley Paintsil is the Director of Editorial Content and Outreach at FashInvest. She graduated from the University of Delaware with a B.S. in Fashion Merchandising. As a content strategist for emerging fashion and beauty companies, she has a passion for discovering new talent in the fashion tech, design and business spaces and bringing their stories to light.

Kelsey graduated from UD in 2012 with a B.S. in Apparel Design and two minors in Business Administration & International Business Studies. While at school, she was the president of the fashion club, Synergy Fashion Group. Right after college, Kelsey moved to NYC for an internship with PVH Corp., one of the largest companies in the menswear industry. She moved up within the company, working for many of its brands such as; Van Heusen, G.H Bass & Co., Arrow, and IZOD. Kelsey is currently working on both sportswear & active wear for the IZOD brand.

As a designer, Kelsey utilizes her degree daily through sketching, CAD-ing, building tech packs, attending fittings, & developing new textiles. When she is not at work, Kelsey loves to run along the NYC coastline and venturing into new neighborhoods to find the best food in town!

​Ashley has enjoyed a lucrative career at Macy’s for the last five years. She currently holds a position as a Product Manager at Macy’s Merchandising Group (MMG). MMG operates as the private brand division of Macy’s Inc.. Ashley’s responsibilities include: identifying “white-space” opportunities in the market, designing product around that need, and partnering with overseas and domestic suppliers to source exclusive assortments. Her role as a Product Manager involves intense collaboration with many cross-functional partners including designers, overseas and domestic suppliers, logistics, marketing, buyers and planners.

Ashley utilizes her undergraduate degree daily to analyze merchandise performance and negotiate costing for new styles to achieve competitive pricing and strategic mark-up targets. Combining these skills helps in the development of sourcing strategies which assists the buyers in placing appropriate assortments that fit the brand DNA.Ashley attributes a large part of her strength as a leader at Macy’s to her education at University of Delaware. During her time at University of Delaware, she was a major contributor to the Department of Fashion & Apparel Studies and held various leadership positions including President of the Fashion Merchandising Club, treasurer of the Garment District, and a professor’s assistant in the merchandise buying and assortment planning course. Ashley conducted multiple, extensive research projects including consumer misbehavior during Black Friday as well as online visual merchandising cues in relation to retailers’ website performance. These processes gave her an in depth experience of the retail industry which has strengthened her merchandising skills and helped her put the customer in the forefront of all of her decisions.

Prior to her career with MMG, Ashley interned at French Connection. She also developed a great background of the retail industry during her time as a Visual Manager at Guess Inc. gaining a wealth of experience in customer service and merchandising the sales floor.

Ashley’s participation in UD’s study abroad program has also prepared her for overseas travel in her current role.Ashley has experienced three promotions during her five year tenure at MMG. She is well regarded by upper management and her co-workers and accredits much of her success to the amazing education she received at the University of Delaware. We are proud to call Ashley a University of Delaware Fashion & Apparel Studies alumni graduating Cum Laude in 2011 with a B.A. in Fashion Merchandising and a minor in Fine Art.

Emily Bauer graduated from UD in 2011 with a B.S. in Fashion Merchandising. While at the university she completed an accelerated track and graduated in 3 years. 

After graduation, she started her career at QVC where she worked in jewelry buying for 3 years, planning and executing both on-air and e commerce sales for trending jewelry categories. 

Currently, Emily works at LivingSocial in Washington, DC and manages the shop vertical which brings in over $20 million annually. Her team is responsible for sourcing all products deals for the site and partners closely with the marketing team to ensure the assortment is maximized for key holidays. 

Dana Fetch graduated from The University of Delaware in 2010 with a B.S. in Fashion Merchandising and a minor in Business Administration. She continued her studies and completed the Graduate Certificate in Socially Responsible and Sustainable Apparel Business. 

After graduation, she started her career simultaneously working in the textiles department at Coach Inc. and as the Marketing and Sales Manager at Indego Africa, a social enterprise based in NYC and Rwanda. She then decided to temporarily move to Rwanda and work full-time with Indego Africa's cooperatives while focusing on design and production.  

Upon returning to the states, Dana split her days between working as the Production & E-Commerce Assistant at Dannijo, a NYC luxury accessories company, and as a Project Manager at a NJ based insurance company.

Dana decided to move to Philadelphia in 2012 and work in the CSR field as a Compliance Coordinator for F&T Apparel (part of Global Brands Group / Li & Fung Ltd). She spent 3.5 years with the company before deciding to branch off and become part of Waltzing Matilda USA, a start-up handcrafted leather company based in Wayne, PA. As the VP of Operations for the company, Dana oversees all aspects of the business, including accounting, logistics, production, marketing, and more. 

Aside from work, Dana loves to travel, practice yoga, ski, hike and see live music!

Rita's passion for sustainable manufacturing began in her undergraduate years at the University of Delaware. Starting as a biology major with the intention of becoming a doctor, she had the opportunity to tour apparel and footwear factories in Asia during freshman year. After witnessing less than ideal working conditions and a lack of environmental sustainability, she created her own major in "Social Responsibility in the Apparel and Footwear Industry." Upon graduation, she moved to Taiwan, where she worked for NIKE, Inc.'s Sustainable Manufacturing & Sourcing team for nearly four years. There, Rita led the introduction, training, and engagement of global development teams and 1000+ suppliers on the Nike Materials Sustainability Index. She later consulted for a major footwear textile manufacturer.

During Rita's MBA experience at the Wharton School of Business, she interned at Under Armour, where she further developed the raw material suppliers' sustainability strategy. She also worked with multiple apparel, retail, and tech companies on their strategy, marketing, business development, and gap analyses.

After graduating business school, Rita is now focusing on her fashion startup – stay tuned! By fully immersing herself in all aspects of business, she hopes to ultimately understand and solve the challenges of a sustainable future for fashion.

• MBA: Individualized major in "Strategy & Management of Global Supply Chains" Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Class of 2016

• BS: Dean's Scholar major in "Social Responsibility in the Apparel & Footwear Industry" University of Delaware, Class of 2010
  

• www.linkedin.com/in/ritachang

• rita.chang.wg16@gmail.com

Elizabeth Way received a B.S. in Apparel Design and a B.A. in history from UD in 2008. She earned a post-graduate certificate in Creative Pattern Cutting at Central Saint Martins in 2008, and from 2009 to 2011 she worked as a stitcher and assistant designer at UD's Professional Theatre Training Program. Elizabeth earned her M.A. in Costume Studies at New York University in 2013.

Elizabeth started as a curatorial assistant at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2013 and is now an Assistant Curator of Costume. She co-curated the exhibitions, Global Fashion Capitals (June - November 2015) and Black Fashion Designers (December 2016 - May 2017), and curated Fabric In Fashion (December 2018 - May 2019).

Elizabeth's publications include: "Intersections of Movement and Style: African American Dance and Fashion in the Twentieth Century," in Dance and Fashion (2013); "Elizabeth Keckly and Anne Lowe: Constructing Fashionable Black Identity" in Fashion and Its Multi-Cultural Facets (2014); "Elizabeth Keckly and Ann Lowe: Recovering an African American Fashion Legacy That Clothed the American Elite" in Fashion Theory: The Journal of The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture (February 2015); "Looking Back at the Future: Space Suits and Space Age Fashion" in Expedition: Fashion from the Extreme (2017); and "Strands of the Diaspora: Black Hair in the Americas 1800-1920" in A Cultural History of Hair in the Age of Empire (2018). Her personal research focuses on the intersection of African American culture and fashion.

Marielle Newman graduated from UD in 2007 with an Honor's degree in Fashion Merchandising and minor in Leadership. She was the first UD student to cross over between the Department of Fashion & Apparel Studies and the Department of Chemical Engineering for her Undergraduate Research on the Liquid Body Armor project under Dr. Norman Wagner. She was also a Russell Fellow and studied abroad in Australia.

5​ days after graduating, Marielle started her career at Under Armour in Baltimore, Maryland and has been with the company since. She has had many roles in Color Development and is currently the Color Analytics Manager, responsible for all data and tracking related to Color. She has been instrumental in implementing best-in-industry processes and achieving company-best service levels.

Marielle lives in Baltimore with her husband Benjamin Schiffman and their hairless cat Chewbacca. Benjamin and Marielle met while at UD when their dorm rooms were next to each other (#doubledels). Benjamin graduated in 2008 with a degree in Chemical Engineering and is currently a Patent Examiner with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Alyssa graduated from the University of Delaware Honors Program with a degree in Apparel Design and a minor in Theater. During her years at the University of Delaware Alyssa worked in the Historic Costume Collection documenting garments, and presented a senior project on the history of wedding gowns. Coming out of college, Alyssa worked as an Assistant in Product Development for a private label athletic company. In this role she learned the process of PD, working with Asian factories, measuring specs on garments, and choosing notions. Alyssa spent a few years in this area of the industry, moving on to work in Production for Ann Taylor LOFT with similar responsibilities. Looking to broaden her knowledge she jumped to a career in Buying, leaving the fashion industry but staying in the retail industry. Alyssa joined Party City Corporation as an Assistant Buyer in Halloween Costume Accessories, working with vendors and managing sales data. Finding unhappiness in this particular field, she accepted an opportunity to try Visual Merchandising for Bloomingdale’s, and really enjoyed it. Establishing some experience, she returned to Party City Corporation and re-joined the team as a Visual Merchandising Specialist. Alyssa found much success in this role and evolved her career into Space Planning and Store Planning, fields which are under the umbrella of Visual Merchandising. Alyssa worked her way up through supervisory and managerial roles at Party City to eventually become Director of Store Planning and Space Planning.

As the Director of Store Planning and Space Planning, Alyssa works on all of Party City’s 750+ stores to create Planograms (diagrams of product placement into pegboard and shelves) and design the overall layout of store floorplans. She also manages the calendar of new product, from initial stages of Product Development, through to freight delivery and execution by stores. She directs 3 teams of people to work on these projects, all of which requires the use of a Retail Planning software called JDA Intactix. Alyssa’s role requires cross-functional work with almost every department in the company: Buying, Planning & Allocation, Facilities, Procurement, Inventory, Finance, and so many more.

To students and new graduates, Alyssa suggests: explore everything that’s out there; there is so much more you can do within the retail industry than just design or merchandise! Take your time, explore, and find your niche. There is no bad form of experience. Fields you dislike will teach you what you are looking for in a career, and fields you love will confirm you are headed in the right direction. Have faith in the process and don’t get discouraged by competition. If you work hard and have passion, you will progress to a beautiful career.

Ever since I was fairly young, I always knew that I wanted to pursue a career in fashion – the idea of trends, outfitting, and expressing yourself through clothing has always appealed to me.  I am currently the DMM of Tops and Activewear for Motherhood Maternity at Destination Maternity.  I manage a team of 4 buyers and it is our responsibility to create and build balanced assortments of clothing that meet not only the financial needs of our company, but also the needs of our customers.  We need to create and buy product that is trend-right, yet commercial, and will make our customer look and feel great while wearing it. 

After graduating from the University of Delaware in 2004, I immediately moved to NYC and began a career as a Junior Merchandiser of Accessories for Liz Claiborne.  I continued on with Liz until 2009 where I was promoted to Merchandiser and then Sr. Merchandiser of Handbags, and then Merchandise Manager of Apparel.  After an exciting career in wholesale, I decided I wanted to tackle the world of retail and made the transition to Ann Taylor.  I began as the Buyer of Sweaters and was then promoted to Sr. Buyer of Sweaters and Knit Tops.  My career at Ann Taylor taught me how to become the connector between the financial and creative aspects of the business, and how to become the true voice of the client.  My experiences in this industry have taken me all over the world, I have met many influential people and I would not trade my career or college experience for anything in the world.  The University of Delaware gave me invaluable experiences through study abroad, internships, and classes in buying, business, and public speaking that have shaped who I am today as a merchant and manager.

After nearly a decade in New York, I made the decision to transition back to Delaware (which was home before college), and I now live in Wilmington with my husband, while working for Destination Maternity.

​Jackie Boccio Gordon graduated from UD in 2003 with a B.S. in Fashion Merchandising.  She knew she always had a passion for fashion and came in to the university with that major already declared. While at the university she was an active member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority.  She also interned at Mothers Work, Inc (now Destination Maternity) during her junior and senior years. Upon graduation, she was offered full time employment and relocated to Philadelphia.  She worked for that company for 4 years, climbing up the ladder to an Associate Buyer before resignation.  She had many different categories she worked on for both their retail and direct businesses, but would have to say knits and sweaters were her favorites.  She loved creating exciting color palettes and like taking risks with fun pops and neons.  Her then boyfriend, was transferred to Los Angeles for his job, and she knew the best thing for her personal life was to make the move out there as well.  Upon arriving in LA, Jackie took a job as a Senior Merchandiser for C&C California, which was owned by Liz Claiborne at the time.  For the first time in her career, she was on the wholesale side of the industry.  Jackie really hit the ground running in this role and quickly adapted to the nuances of running this kind of business vs retail and direct as she had done in her past life.  She remained with this company for 2+ years and then relocated back to Philadelphia where she got a job with URBN, Free People division.  She has been at this job for almost 8 years now.  The first 5 years of her career there were on the wholesale side and just recently, she has transitioned into and OMNI role, which encompasses running the knits division for all 3 channels of business including retail, direct and wholesale. This is the bread and butter of the business and implementing core strategies are necessary to continue to keep this business afloat.  Jackie is always up for the challenge and is constantly pushing for what's next.  She is inspired at work on a daily basis by the amazing campus, creative team members and most importantly a passion for the product. 

​Colleen McCann is a 2002 graduate of University of Delaware. After receiving her Bachelor of Science in Apparel Design she began her career by designing for the then budding performance brand, Under Armour. Colleen currently works as a Visual DNA consultant in the fashion & beauty industries in New York & Los Angeles. Through her career, Colleen has had the opportunity to work for such global brands as Badgley Mischka, Betsy Johnson, Calvin Klein, Conde Nast, L'Oreal, Nordstrom and many more. On any given day you can find Colleen running to photo shoot sets for major magazine outlets or hopping into meetings consulting on the style direction for global brands.

​Nga Nguyen has a combined Bachelor of Science degree in Apparel Design and Fashion Merchandising with an Art minor in Surface Design from the University of Delaware (1999) and an MFA in Interaction Design from the school of Visual Arts (2015).

As a UX Design Technologist, Nga strives to understand human behavior, emotions along with best practice of design process and system thinking to bring a holistic approach to create delightful products and services for our ever-changing world. Nga is a current Entrepreneur in Residence supported by the Kauffman Grant at NYDesigns, an incubator and accelerator Design + Tech maker space that helps startups and entrepreneurs grow their business through mentorship, workshops, networking, and business strategy. Along with support from the executive director, Nga currently works with General Vibration, a startup with 11 issued patents on its haptic technology with its potential impact in the automobile, audio, virtual/augmented reality, wearable, and wellness market.

Until the Spring of 2014, Nga has been a women’s RTW collection designer always thinking how a woman dynamically presents herself through the power of style using clothing as her medium as she navigates her life through a change of her wardrobe. This point of view to designing clothes has successfully launched her career with brands such as Eileen Fisher Inc., Chico's FAS, Macy's Merchandising Group, and Jockey International Inc. to name a few. Along the way, she was approached to collaborate and co-founded two clothing labels: Baby Lady, Ltd. launched in 2001 and was sold in 24 boutiques nationwide and in 2009 created rock+moss, a small run, unisex, modern, hand knit sweater line with each piece signed promoting craft from a small group of Artisans; intentful to encourage the aspect of human connection and bringing meaning into the products we buy. On the side, Nga practices Aikido and teaches yoga in New York City to complement her creativity. Her work can be found at www.nganycdesign.com

She has more than 20 years’ experience in technology for the fashion industry and has worked at Lectra, Gerber Technology, Karat Software, Cross Creek Apparel, and Perigee Software in marketing, communication, product development and sales roles. Anastasia or Stacey, as her friends call her, joined Centric in 2015. 

Stacey holds Bachelor of Science degrees in business administration and apparel design from the University of Delaware, and a Master of Science degree in textile and apparel management from North Carolina State University. She is an advisory board member with the University of Delaware’s Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies and a member of the North Carolina Textile Foundation’s board of directors.

A self professed fashion and technology junkie, she has lived and worked in the United States, Canada, and France and has traveled around the world. She now teeters around in her high heels around Paris where she lives with her family. In her spare time, she trades her high heels for sneakers and runs.

​Paula Zusi is an accomplished senior executive in the apparel industry with over 30 years of experience. Currently, she is the Global Operations Advisor - Retail Supply Chain for Advent International, a global private equity firm with $30B under management. In this capacity, Paula advises Advent's retail portfolio companies on supply chain operations. Prior to joining Advent, Paula was the EVP and Chief Supply Chain Officer of Ann Inc., parent company of the Ann Taylor and Loft brands, a $2.5B specialty retailer with over 1000 stores in North America. In this role, she had responsibility for the end to end supply chain, from product development through distribution. Previously, Paula held a number of senior executive roles including Corporate Vice President of Sourcing and Manufacturing at Liz Claiborne, Inc., where she had sourcing oversight for more than 30 brands, including Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand Jeans and Kate Spade. Paula holds a bachelors degree from University of Delaware, and is an active Advisory Council member of the Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies. Paula is also Vice Chairman of the American Apparel and Footwear Association.