Kent State Fashion School will showcase its fashion merchandising program during the event “Merchandising Symposium: Building a Brand featuring Vera Bradley” on Nov. 16 at 5:30 p.m. in Rockwell Auditorium.

The event’s keynote speaker, Rosemary Ricketts, Vera Bradley’s vice president of merchandising, will discuss what it took to build Vera Bradley into an iconic American brand. The event is invite-only and will host industry professionals from retailers Nordstrom and JCPenney, as well as a select group of students who RSVP’d.

Angie Wische, a senior fashion merchandising major and one of the event’s coordinators, said the event is meant to highlight the fashion merchandising program and create an opportunity for students and industry professionals to have a dialogue about the fashion school.

“I feel that the merchandising realm doesn’t always get acknowledgement,” Wische said. “Merchandising doesn’t get the spotlight often, but it is the brains behind the beauty.”

The event will incorporate local business Gracy Lane by having its CEO, Tom Gober, introduce the keynote speaker. Fashion merchandising students will also create a window display in the second floor atrium of Rockwell Hall for the event.

Felicia Guadagni is the fashion reporter for The Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].