News and Media

Article By: Piper Hale
Published: Oct 31, 2011

Jasmine Campbell is working toward her B.F.A. in fashion marketing and management. Jasmine was first drawn into fashion as a child, when she became obsessed with wedding dress designer Vera Wang and began scrapbooking pictures of her gowns. She resolved that she would one day work in fashion, although as she got older, the specifics of this dream job changed every couple of years. "I even wanted to be a model at one point," says Jasmine. "But then I was like, I'm only 5 feet 2 inches - I don't think this is going to work out for me!"

In high school, Jasmine flirted briefly with the idea of becoming an anesthesiologist, but realized while looking into programs that the job's only appeal for her was the high salary. "I realized I'd rather work doing what I love," says Jasmine. She applied to SCAD instead, and the day her acceptance letter came in the mail, she says, "I started screaming! It was my first choice and it was the first acceptance letter that I got back."

Since she began her fashion management studies, Jasmine has worked on projects ranging from creative assignments, such as a functional garment styled out of paper, to projects based on business concepts and strategies, like a six-month open-to-buy plan for a fashion retailer. Recently, Jasmine has been working on assignments that focus on visual merchandising; most recently, she designed a proposed Dillard's window display for a class.

With such a diversity of skills under her belt, Jasmine says she is qualified to wear many hats in the fashion field. "The classes open up a wide range of different parts of the business," she says. " Visual merchandising, management, private labels, global sourcing - all of these are snippets of the real business side of fashion, which is vast. Being able to tackle each part and see what area we fit in is amazing." With so many avenues open to her, Jasmine says she no longer feels that she has to choose between doing what she loves and having a stable career; she can do both.

She has already taken several opportunities to work in the field, including interning for Barkha's Custom Sourcing, an Atlanta fabric sourcing company, where she liaised with textile manufacturers and designers. She has also worked as a styling assistant for Simon Fashion Now - a Lenox Square fashion event - and as a wardrobe stylist for Atlanta-based company Mike Designs. She even volunteered as a styling assistant for celebrated fashion designer Juan Carlos Obando during New York Fashion Week 2010. In this role, Jasmine spent a day in New York splitting her time between watching the designs of some of the world's most eminent designers walk the runway and directing Obando's models and prepping their looks.

After testing out these different roles, Jasmine has fine-tuned her concentrations to wardrobe styling and business planning. These particular concentrations appeal to Jasmine partially because of the influence of her professors. "I've worked with Bruno Lima, who is the department head now of the fashion marketing and management program here in Atlanta and he's been awesome," says Jasmine. "He's able to push us to our creative sides and share his experience both as a designer and a businessman. I've also worked with Barbara Mrvos and she gives you the more real world approach and what the actual numbers and equations are that are used for open-to-buys and different financial plans. Her expertise is amazing."

Professor Mrvos has provided Jasmine with help beyond business theory; she also set Jasmine up with a recruiter from BCBG Max Azria in New York City. Jasmine will be completing an internship in BCBG's Broadway showroom studying sales projections. Jasmine says she is elated that she gets to spend a quarter working in the heart of New York's fashion district before returning to SCAD for her senior year.