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K-State Today

December 21, 2016

Three apparel and textiles students awarded scholarships

Submitted by Anne Rubash

Three K-State apparel and textiles students have been awarded academic scholarships through the 2017 YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund.

Annabelle Frese, Tonganoxie, and Samantha White, Leavenworth, both apparel design and production students, and Sierra Chase, apparel marketing student, Manhattan, each will receive a one-time $5,000 scholarship.

To be eligible for these scholarships, students must be enrolled in a fashion-related program at one of YMA's member schools, which only includes the top retail, design and fashion programs in the country.

"Our department was invited to become a YMA member school this year and we are proud of our excellent students for winning these competitive scholarships and related opportunities," said Barbara Anderson, head of the apparel, textiles, and interior design department within the College of Human Ecology.

Ten K-State apparel and textiles undergraduate students submitted the case study required for the scholarship application. The case study focused on design and product development, merchandising and marketing, or technology and analytics. Each case study was evaluated by two independent judges, which were part of the YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund's board of governors, mentors or alumni.

The objective of the case study was to explore the realm of possibilities Etsy's new small batch manufacturing platform offers to its sellers and end-use customers through its new partnership with Macy's. In the case study, each student had to identify what product line would make the collaboration most successful for all stakeholders involved.

The scholarship recipients are invited to attend the annual awards gala in New York City in January 2017. They will have exclusive access to fashion industry internship opportunities and will be matched with an industry executive mentor for the upcoming year. Additionally, one of the three K-State scholarship recipients will be invited to compete for the $30,000 Geoffrey Beene National Merit scholarship.

According to Marie Colletta, director of education for YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund, this proved to be the most competitive pool of applicants in the history of the competition with 569 applicants from 58 member schools. The Fashion Scholarship Fund awarded a total of 229 $5,000 scholarships this year.

Read more information on the organization and scholarship application process.