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A group of UK students took on fashion’s biggest week from Feb. 13 to 18, as part of their Merchandising, Apparel and Textiles curriculum.

Every years, 20 Merchandising, Apparel and Textiles students get to study for a week in New York City during the prolific Fashion Week. It is part of a course named MAT 480, which is described as a study tour.

New York Fashion Week is filled with runway shows from top designers so that fashion buyers can see what they will be selling the coming season. NYFW was started in the 1940s in the middle of World War II because American buyers could not travel overseas to Paris to view new collections.

Now, with a mainland event of our own, anyone can attend fashion week. The Department of Retailing and Tourism Management and Mika Pryor, an MAT lecturer, take full advantage of this every spring semester.

Sarah Macke, an MAT junior, was one of the few students on the trip. In an email to the Kernel, she said the experience was informative and that she learned a lot from doing it.

“I think the most valuable part of this experience was being able to have a ‘behind the scenes’ look at so many different companies and brands,” Macke wrote in the email. “It was great to hear some advice from professionals that have positions we would like to have one day.”

The students visited numerous professional and notable companies like Ross Stores, Kleinfeld Bridal, Kate Spade, Cotton, Inc., and Tommy Hilfiger. They also were able to get a little more of the New York experience, having time to go see Phantom of the Opera. According to Macke, they also shopped at SoHo, Fifth Avenue and Chinatown, among others.

Outside of a memorable experience, the students get a chance to network and receive opportunities to apply for internships in New York. Several students from UK got internships simply from being on the trip and taking advantage of opportunities in front of them. Nick Fazzino, MAT junior got an internship with Kleinfeld Bridal. He will be their first male intern in the bridal salon and sales floor.

“The trip as a whole gives … opportunity to be immersed in NYC fashion culture,” Fazzino said. “I had never even applied to Kleinfield and because I was on the trip with the right people and the right time I was able to get an interview.”

The trip is not exclusive to MAT majors. Avery Malone, an adviser in the Department of Retailing and Tourism Management, said that although this is an MAT course, many non-majors will sometimes sign up for the trip early enough to be selected.

The class opens in the fall for registration and runs on a first-come-first-serve basis. The class for the New York trip is given first to MAT majors. There are also sections that go Paris, Florence and Milan. These sometimes have spots open for non-majors.

“Any major is welcome to apply to take those (international) trips,” Malone said. “They go to places you really couldn’t go to as a tourist; places that paint embroider fabrics for haute couture.”