Faculty Profiles
Professor Teresa Howe, Program Director of the Fashion Institute
There
really isn't any aspect of fashion that doesn't capture my interest. In
fact, I consider fashion to be the most exciting form of creative expression.
Maybe that's why when planning my future I chose to major in fashion design
at Mass College of Art where I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. At
the time of my graduation, I was offered a position as an instructor in
a fashion program. That gave me the opportunity to combine fashion with
another of my favorite interests, teaching. And so the journey began. After
several years of teaching, I enrolled in a graduate program at Rhode Island
School of Design (RISD). Here I was permitted to select courses that strengthened
my skills as a fashion educator. It was a wonderful way to earn my graduate
degree, and it gave me the chance to experience the spirited environment
of RISD.
Throughout much of my career I have balanced teaching with business endeavors,
one of which was developing a line of private label cosmetics. This was
a valuable experience that commanded many skills from product development
to marketing and all of the demands of operating a small business. Another
one of my professional interests is serving on the Board of Directors of
the Fashion Group International of Boston. Through this organization I
am in contact with many influential fashion specialists in the Boston area.
Networking within this group has been a valuable resource in establishing
numerous successful fashion internships for my students.
For more than a decade, I have had the privilege of being the Director
of the Fashion Institute at Fisher College. Fortunately, this position
allows me to continue to teach in the classroom where I have met many wonderful
young people with whom I can share my love of fashion. I enthusiastically
look forward to meeting many more on their journey into the world of fashion.
Professor Karen A. Myers teaches the following courses in the Fashion Merchandising Program: Retail Buying, Retail Management, Topics in Fashion: International Retail Management, Fashion Advertising and Sales Promotion, and the Fashion Internship Course.
"Fashion is very important. It is life-enhancing
and, like everything that gives pleasure, it is worth doing well."
-Vivienne Westwood
While sharing Professor, and Program Director, Teresa Howe's interest in every aspect of "the creative expression" of fashion, I have a varied approach. The business aspects of fashion intrigue me. With undergraduate and graduate degrees in business and years of teaching experience, it is my delight and pleasure to share the "business" that is fashion with Fisher College Fashion Merchandising majors.
The contemporary retail environment is exciting and complex. Along with nurturing the students' creative side, our future retailers, buyers and merchandise managers require knowledge of economics, manufacturing, marketing, management, accounting, business law, operations, technology, e-commerce, human resources and the global interdependence of business. Making sure that our students have a solid understanding of, and appreciation for, the business environment of fashion is my task and my goal.
While acquiring business knowledge and acumen in the classroom, Fisher students can also choose to intern in the fashion capital that Boston has become. In my role as the fashion internship supervisor, I work with students and their on-site supervisors at fantastic retail organizations such as Armani, Betsey Johnson, Bloomingdales, Chanel, Escada, Gucci, and Talbots. Additionally, entrepreneurial talent from the Boston area guest lecture in my classes and allow us to visit while they share first-hand experience with the Fisher fashion majors.
Along with my students, it is a joy to continue to learn and grow in understanding of the mode and tempo of retailers in the twenty-first century.
Professor Martha Palaza teaches the following courses in the Fashion Institute
at Fisher College: Pattern Making, Clothing Construction, Tailoring, Knitwear
Design and Construction, Textile Science, and Visual Merchandising.
Remnants of worsted wool, silk shantung, and especially shimmering red velvet ignited my passion for designing and sewing clothes. At the age of nine, I began spending summers watching my grandmother measure, sew and fit outfits for the ladies of her small town. She was an expert seamstress and tailor, and under her tutelage I learned to sew. Her mantra could be stated in one word--"rip." It echoed in my mind as I strived to meet her high standards, which continue to guide me today.
A desire to share my knowledge with aspiring sewers grew during my experience as a traveling design instructor. While conducting workshops in lessons from "how to get your pants to fit properly" to "hat and glove making," I realized that teaching was my true vocation. I earned a Certificate of Fashion Design to augment my Bachelor of Arts degree, and continued to teach a myriad of subjects centered on design and sewing. In 2002, I accepted a position at Fisher College instructing fashion students. After five remarkable and challenging years, I still enjoy my career immensely.
If I had to sum up what interests me most in the field of fashion, first would be my love of patternmaking that arises from the challenge of transforming a two-dimensional pattern onto a three-dimensional human form. Next is my fascination with textiles, especially leading-edge technology, which I find captivating. I relish discovering tidbits of information about new technological breakthroughs and applications. Last there is the research and application of old and new techniques of adornment to bring freshness to contemporary designs. Exploring these topics in my own fashion designs enables me to encourage, persuade, nurture, and motivate my students to achieve success in their work and realize their highest goals.
You are invited to come and visit one of our classes so you can see what your role could be in this fascinating world of fashion.