Intimate Apparel Council, FIT Launch Professional Program
The Intimate Apparel Council and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York have teamed up to launch an education program to help intimate-apparel executives gain a leg up in the business.
The Certified Intimate Apparel Professional Program is part of FIT’s executive education department, which provides “business school–type programs but with a focus on apparel,” said Eric Hertz, director of executive education for FIT.
Past participants in the executive education program include representatives from Kohl’s, Liz Claiborne, Warnaco and JCPenney. The program features industry leaders—including Terry J. Lundgren, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Macy’s Inc.; Michael S. Jeffries, chief executive officer of Abercrombie & Fitch; and Burt Tansky, chief executive officer of Neiman Marcus—as guest speakers.
“The idea behind the [Intimate Apparel Professional] program is to provide executives in intimate apparel with a complete overview of what they need to be successful,” Hertz said. “We feel that we can provide a course of study which will enable executives in this industry sector to move forward, to advance their careers and to make a greater contribution to their companies.”
The first one-day session in a series of four sessions will be held on May 8. Subsequent sessions will be held every Intimate Apparel Market Week. Graduates of the program will receive a “Certified Intimate Apparel Professional” credential from FIT.
Topics of study taught by FIT’s business and design faculty and industry executives will include “the dynamics of retailing,” “design and merchandising,” “manufacturing and sourcing,” and “sales, branding and marketing.”
The Intimate Apparel Professional Program is the first program to be offered by the executive education department that specializes in a specific apparel category. “If this succeeds as well as I think it will, we will consider offering this with other sectors as well,” Hertz said.
The Intimate Apparel Council is a division of the American Apparel & Footwear Association, a national trade association representing apparel, footwear and other sewn products’ companies and their suppliers.
For more information, call (212) 217-4305 or visit www.fitnyc.edu/executiveeducation. —Rhea Cortado
