Small 4 Style: SMU Fashion Week 2013: The Panels

SMU Fashion Week brought fashion industry professionals to campus this week with 3 days of lively panel discussions. SMU students got the opportunity to interact with these professionals and get their advice. Here is a breakdown of the panels this year:

- Amber Venz and Baxter Box of rewardStyle

- Finley Moll of Finley Shirts, buyer Mollie Spicer of Neiman Marcus, designer Prashi Shah, and Alison Volk of Volk PR

- Curator Myra Walker

Amber Venz is the genius behind rewardStyle, an invitation only site for bloggers to monetize their blogs. They offer affiliate links to products from 3,000 retailers and 10,000 blogs belong to their site. She talked about why people like following blogs because it is like following a personality and a storyline. It is important for a blogger to have an authentic voice.

Day 2 was a panel jam-packed with fashion experts. My favorite person from the panel was Mollie Spicer, ladies' shoes buyer for Neiman Marcus. Aside from having my dream job, Mollie had some great advice for the students in the crowd. Adding onto the advice of the other panelists about the dedication and hard work it takes to work in the industry, she said it is important to do your research.

The keynote speaker was Myra Walker, curator and Texas Fashion Collection Director. She talked about the importance of traveling to see fashion exhibitions around the world because, "it is for your own good." The famous Dallas Museum of Art exhibit, The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier, was a big part of her talk. She also discussed her experiences of traveling to see exhibits, which is something I hope to do one day too.