Surrounded by 12 sales associates, Charles Gilbert requests the sales of the group’s fall line—an incredibly soft red T-shirt featuring the University of Georgia Athletic Association’s “G” logo and charcoal cropped sweatpants sporting a Bulldog logo.
“We can’t afford to go down on the price any more,” insists Liz Felter. “We’ve already marked them down 25 percent and that’s already too low.” Felter’s colleagues agree. The room buzzes with, “Yes,” “I completely agree,” and, “We can’t lose any more profit.”
The associates have sold more than $12,000 in three months at the University of Georgia Bookstore and through direct sales by the partners. However, they still need to sell 500 garments in order to have the funds to manufacture their next line of sleepwear and dresses.
The motivation to sell the products is different for these associates compared to most. Instead of hoping for an end-of-the year bonus—they’re hoping for a final grade of an A. What distinguishes these colleagues is the fact that they’re fashion-merchandising students in Gilbert’s “Survey of Apparel and Soft Goods Manufacturing” and “Global Sourcing of Apparel and Textile Products” courses.
Gilbert, the Georgia Soft Goods Education Foundation Distinguished Professor, joined the faculty in 2006 after 30 plus years in the textile manufacturing industry and draws on those experiences for his courses.
When he first taught the courses in fall 2007, Gilbert had one class use a domestic manufacturer while the other class worked with a company in China. The result showed a demonstrable difference in terms of cost, with the product from China incurring added costs in duty, quota and air-freight charges. This semester, the students are only working with domestic manufacturers.
“I wanted the students to learn from start to finish what it means to make a product,” Gilbert says.
Along with selling the products created last semester, this semester’s students have designed and produced two new garments—a grey, cap-sleeved tunic dress and seersucker sleepwear boxers finished with a grosgrain ribbon.
Accompanying lectures and textbooks, the students’ work extends beyond the classroom, including setting up displays, visiting with organizations and creating groups to sell the products on the social website Facebook.
“This isn’t the typical class, it’s run like a business not a classroom which makes it fun to be in,” says Lorin Partalis.
“I heard about the class from one of my friends who took it last fall and she really liked how the students decided what products to make, exactly what they will look like, and the best way to sell them,” says Laura West. “I’m also very interested in the design component of fashion and this class enables me to use that skill.”
The two courses are a requirement for the global soft-goods emphasis of the fashion merchandising major offered in the textiles, merchandising and interiors department. The new emphasis was created to meet the growing need of professionals in the global soft goods field.
Brandice Ware (Junior, Fashion Merchandise) and Charles Gilbert prepare a display at the UGA Bookstore.
“Most of these students will be merchandisers or buyers for the retail industry,” Gilbert says. “These courses will make them better merchandisers and buyers with the knowledge they have gained on design, production, and sourcing. But it also gives them more avenues in their careers, such as apparel designers, suppliers and sourcing agents.”
Gilbert has years of experience in textile manufacturing, having worked with companies such as Gap, Patagonia, Levi Strauss, Columbia Sportswear and Victoria’s Secret, but working with college students presents new challenges.
“Although it may be difficult at times getting the students to come to a consensus on specifics of the products [such as which color the dress should be] overall their ideas and energy are invigorating to be around,” he says. “On the whole it’s been so refreshing to work with college students compared to the ‘typical’ business person.”
The dresses, made of organic pima cotton grown in the United States and spun into yarn only 20 minutes away in Jefferson by Buhler Yarns, were knit, cut, sewn and dyed in Pennsylvania by Fessler USA. The boxers were made using pre-purchased fabric that was then sent to RCM Enterprises, a contracting firm in the South Georgia town of Baconton.
One point highly stressed by the spring semester students is keeping the costs down, allowing the products to retail for $25 and $12 for the dress and the sleepwear bottoms.
“We have to keep our target market in mind,” says Sarah Anne Spaulding, a junior fashion merchandising major. “Students without infinite resources are unable to purchase the items no matter how much they may like them.”
Along with issues of price the students must ensure the products’ specifications meet their expectations. The first sample of the boxers falls short.
“I wouldn’t buy them if they fit like that” declares Katie Lynn of the first sample’s long length and high waist. “The length-to-waist ratio is off. They have to be shorter for female students to wear them, let alone buy them.”
The students’ involvement in every aspect of the designs—ranging from the color of the grosgrain ribbon, the stores that will sell the garments, and the pricing—are part of what makes the courses distinctive, Gilbert says.
“The students this semester are able to experience both the retailing and design side to the products and have flourished in both areas, but specifically in the design aspect because they haven’t been able to express their creativity at this level before,” Gilbert says. “I look forward to seeing what future students have to offer.”
The new products are scheduled to hit the shelves this spring. All items produced by the classes can be purchased at the University of Georgia bookstore as well as directly from Gilbert via email at cgilbert@fcs.uga.edu.