On Nov.20, the Marketing and Merchandising in Fashion class took a field trip to Old Orchard Mall in order to put up a seasonal display, which was designed and crafted by students in the class.

“For the last two years we’ve been working on this statement landscape bed, and this is the third semester class that has done the landscape bed,” said Fashion Marketing teacher, Melissa Duffy.

Duffy further elaborated that Old Orchard gives the class free creative reign to do whatever they want. The students get to come up with their own ideas for the theme, design, and layout while partnering with a visual merchandiser.

Sophie Simonds, a junior, said “We talked a lot in class about what we could and couldn’t use in order to include all religious holidays, and we talked about where the different focal points in the display should be placed.”

For inspiration, the class looked at displays for large department stores, like Macy’s and Nordstrom.

The Old Orchard staff was accommodating and helpful. They helped the students put together their ideas, transforming them from a simple sketch to a seasonal display. They also helped find and provide materials that the class required to create their displays, according to Duffy.

The class assembled the set pieces, including decorative trees created by the Wood and Metal Design class.

“We had to wrap a bunch of wooden boxes with plaid fabric and tie ribbons around them all. We had cutout trees and big snowflakes made [with help from wood shop class], so we had to place them where we wanted them [at Old Orchard],” said Simonds.

Although the set looked amazing by the end, the class experienced some minor drawbacks beforehand. Simonds recalled, “What seemed like the biggest struggle to me was class agreement. We clashed on a lot of ideas and ended up taking lots of time to decide and debate.”

Duffy added that trying to narrow their focus was also a difficult aspect of the project.

Another problem students experienced was the weather. “It was really hard to work in the cold all day. Even though the sun was out, I think we all had numb fingers and toes by the end of it,” said Simonds.

Duffy said, “There are all kinds of challenges that come up along the way just because it’s something they’ve never done before, and every project is different, so I’m up against new obstacles, too.”

The project is an opportunity for students to experience what a job in fashion entails, since they get hands on access in designing and creating all aspects of the display.

“This is pretty much as real as it gets,” explained Duffy. “The fact that [students] get to work on something that’s real, and something that is local that their friends and family will be able to see it’s exciting to have that opportunity.”

The display, which can be found between Northface and Gap, will remain at Old Orchard Shopping Mall until mid-February.