Many Syracuse University students would jump at the chance to have an influence in Bloomingdale’s fashion selections each season. The opportunity to have a seat at Fashion Week in Paris, Milan and New York City would be equally inspiring.

For Stephanie Solomon, the vice president of fashion direction for women’s ready-to-wear at Bloomingdale’s and Syracuse University alumna of 1972, this is just part of her job. Today at 2 p.m., Solomon will present a lecture in The Warehouse Auditorium on the ins and outs of the fashion industry.

Solomon’s speech will focus on her experience in the industry and be targeted toward fashion, retail and journalism students. She will discuss the steps it takes to create a cohesive fashion look, a process that starts with attending many fashion shows and putting the clothing in stores, said Jeff Mayer, associate professor at SU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts.

VPA is hosting Solomon’s visit to SU to give 22 senior fashion design majors hands-on assistance with their fashion collections Tuesday and Wednesday, Mayer said.

This is the first year a specialist like Solomon has come in to help work on students’ collections. She will review each of the senior collections and assist each student edit his or her 25-piece collection to six looks that will be created and shown on campus in the spring, Mayer said.

Solomon sets the look for Bloomingdale’s clothing selections each season. Bloomingdale’s might base its look on a color, shape or texture and directs buyers toward what is in style that season, Mayer said.

‘It’s a huge honor to have Stephanie here,’ Mayer said. ‘Ordinarily, the faculty works with students on their collections. The media turns to her for anything about fashion, and she’s often on ‘The Today Show.’ She is one of the faces of New York.’

Solomon’s visit will help the senior fashion students prepare their collections, which will be entered into a competition that will premiere in a New York City fashion show organized by VPA. The show is not scheduled yet, but it will be held sometime in May or June, Mayer said.

Fashion design seniors have been working on their collections since last fall and have been crafted around three different themes: Audrey Hepburn, the 1940s rehabilitation of fashion after World War II and the work of Diana Vreeland. These collections were narrowed down from 100 looks at the end of last semester to 25 with the aid of professors, Mayer said.

‘Stephanie will help will colors and fabric choices,’ Mayer said. ‘She’s seen a lot of clothes.’

A jury made up of fashion academics from institutions like Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia, as well as designers and fashion buyers, will decide which looks will be in the fashion show after the seniors have finished each of their six looks, Mayer said.

Solomon attended SU’s former College of Human Development, which at the time housed the university’s fashion program. The fashion design major became a part of VPA in 1990, Mayer said. Solomon was also a member of the Delta Gamma sorority at SU.

For Solomon’s visit, The Warehouse display window on West Fayette Street is currently featuring some of the looks Solomon designed for the winter season. The designs were presented in The New York Times on Dec. 6.

Solomon’s lecture is the first in a series of fashion-related speakers. Other speakers include Thai Nguyen, a current contestant of the Bravo reality series ‘Launch my Line,’ and designers Mary McFadden, Henry Grethel and Richard Eisenbergl.

‘From my standpoint, (these lectures) are the bridge from New York City fashion to Syracuse because students are so aware of what’s going on there,’ Mayer said. ‘It is real experience.’

rastrum@syr.edu

Published on January 25, 2010 at 12:00 pm