Faculty

Fran Della Badia

Senior Vice President of Coach

Francine Della Badia is Senior Vice President, Merchandising for Coach, a leading American marketer of fine accessories and gifts for women and men.

Fran first joined Coach in 1999 as a key member of the global merchandising team. During her tenure, Coach has diversified its product platform and evolved into an accessible luxury lifestyle brand, traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol COH. Today she is responsible for leading the team in the merchandise strategies to drive growth for the Coach brand worldwide.

Before joining Coach, Fran held several senior leadership positions in merchandising, most recently as Vice President of Victoria’s Secret Stores. Prior to that she held various strategic positions with increasing responsibility at fashion brands including J. Crew and Banana Republic.

Fran holds a B.A. degree in International Affairs and French from Lafayette College.

Fran and her husband Gordon have a young son and reside in Westchester County, NY. Together they own and operate Camp Twin Creeks, a residential children’s summer camp in West Virginia. They are the owners and founders of Fashion Camp, a summer program created to give young women experience in New York City to learn about the fashion industry.

Fran and Gordon are also active sponsors of Morry’s Camp, a youth development organization.

Irini Mia Arakas

Writer/Editor

Irini Mia Arakas is a leading fashion news writer and editor who has worked for American Vogue for over six years. At Vogue, she was responsible for producing, styling and writing for a section of the magazine dedicated to news-worthy designers, stores and trends. Her position at Vogue focused on discovering young talent and styling fashion shoots with celebrities, musicians, athletes and fashion icons.

She has dressed the hottest stars in Hollywood, such as Rosario Dawson, Kate Hudson, Pharrell Williams, Amanda Peet and many more. She has written celebrity profiles on Mary J. Blige, and Jessica Simpson and was the first to discover and write about clothing and accessory designers: Zac Posen, Thakoon, Devi Kroell and Derek Lam, just to name a few.

Irini also writes for Glamour Magazine, Teen Vogue, New York Magazine and The New York Times. She is based in New York City where she lives in the West Village and also designs a successful jewelry collection called Prova.

Elizabeth McNulty

Elizabeth Anne LLC, Design Consultant

Elizabeth McNulty graduated from Duke University with a bachelor’s degree in Art and Art History. Her love of printmaking and fabrics lead her to continue her studies at Philadelphia College of Textiles where she earned a Masters degree in textile design and engineering. This background in both the creative and technical side of textiles launched her career as a designer in the home furnishings industry in New York City.

She was the Vice President of Design for Tommy Hilfiger for 5 years where she launched the home collection and built the design and sourcing teams now in place. She then moved on to build her own independent consulting firm to work with Nicole Miller, Laura Ashley, Anne Klein, Michael Kors and Vera Wang. Elizabeth continues to travels extensively to many countries including, France, Italy, China, India and Pakistan to see her design creations through into final production products to be launched at retail.

Jimmy Olsson

VP of Merchandising and one of the founders of American Eagle Outfitter’s new concept, Martin + Osa

Jimmy Olsson is the Vice President of Merchandising and one of the founders of American Eagle Outfitter’s new concept, Martin + Osa. Over the past 15 years, Jimmy has developed and implemented merchandising / brand strategies with Ripcurl, Coach, Gap and Old Navy.

Katy Grogan

Senior Merchandise Manager - Coach

Katy Grogan graduated from College of the Holy Cross with a double major in Art History and Studio Art. After college Katy worked at Brooks Brothers as an Assistant Buyer and simutaneously lauched her own line of handbags and website. “Katy Grogan Handbags” were sold in boutiques in the tri-state area, but Katy wanted to learn from the best! In spring of 2002 Katy moved into the Corporate Merchandising division at Coach. She has worked in women’s accessories, handbags and most recently the Factory Store division. Her passion for creativity, fashion and business make Coach the perfect fit!

Renee Olsson

Vice President of Design and Product Development for Victoria’s Secret Stores

Renee Olsson is the Vice President of Design and Product Development for Victoria’s Secret Stores. Over the past twelve years she has held various merchandising, product development and design roles for well-known brands such as DKNY, Old Navy, Gap, Gap Body and Lucky Brand. Renee has a Bachelors degree in International Business, which has been extremely useful for developing product, sourcing and negotiating business all over the world. Her passion for product and her love for fashion, continues to make work an enjoyable place.

David Duplantis

Senior Vice President of North American Retail at Coach

David is the Senior Vice President of North American Retail for Coach. With over 20 years experience in the Retail industry he has extensive knowledge of Merchandising, Marketing, Planning and Allocation, and is credited for boldly driving businesses to success. Having been part of the J.Crew and Banana Republic organizations as well as 7 years with Macy's, David is well rounded in the Retail industry.

Elisa Cohen

Designer / Illustrator

Elisa Cohen came to New York from California to pursue a career in Fashion Illustration. Using her skills as an illustrator, she ended up landing a career in design, particularly handbags and small leathergoods. She has wo rked for companies such as Ralph Lauren, Banana Republic and Coach. Elisa has also maintained a freelance career illustrating books, album covers, movie posters and of course, fashion.

Stacey Mayesh

Stacey Mayesh is a leading freelance fashion stylist, who dresses celebrities and models for top tier magazines around the world, including Spanish Elle, In Style, Teen Vogue, Lucky, Self, Glamour, Jane,and Real Simple. Stacey has served as a fashion editor on staff at publications such as Seventeen and YM, and most recently, as the Senior Fashion Editor at Marie Claire. She has appeared on TV, as a fashion expert, on Full Frontal Fashion and she just wrapped her first television project, a new BRAVO reality series starring Susie Essman, of Curb Your Enthusiasm fame.

A front row perennial at all of the fashion shows, Stacey has become known for her chic eye and sharp sense of style. She has dressed the brightest stars in the entertainment industry, such as Susan Sarandon, Julia Stiles, Selma Blair, Claire Danes, Matthew Perry, Mya, Amanda Peet, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jessica Alba, Angie Harmon, Christina Ricci, Queen Latifah, Cynthia Nixon and many more. As a fashion insider, she has her finger on the pulse of all that is new, hot, and happening. Stacey is based in New York City where she lives in Tribeca with her husband and young son and daughter.

Lisa Barham

www.lisabarham.com

Lisa Barham is the author of the popular, Young Adult book series, “The Fashion Forward Adventures of Imogene” from Simon and Schuster.

A Graduate of F.I.T., Lisa began her career as an editor at a New York based fashion-forecasting company. Shortly thereafter she moved into film production, working for such notables as Robert DeNiro and Woody Allen. She has co-written, co-produced and developed two major motion picture projects at Touchstone Pictures and has served as a development consultant on others.

Lisa is presently writing her third book in the “Imogene&rdquo series. She is a member of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) as well as the Author’s Guild. She and her husband live in Greenwich, Connecticut with their young son.

Eric Steding

Cheif Creative Officer - Shop Studios

Eric is a fashion and Fortune 500 favorite when creative direction, art production and lighting are needed to be at the absolute best. Known throughout the world for his stunning museum designs, one-of-a-kind events, world wide product launches, fashion shows and retail widows displays on virtually every exclusive shopping street in the world, he has never disappointed his fans. Steding now is expanding into production design for film, TV and his fans await the next move of Shop Studios’ Creative Director and how he will effect Visual Culture and trends around the world.

Gordon Josey

Owner / Director of Camp Twin Creeks and FashionCampNYC

Gordon has worked in residential children’s summer camps for over 15 years. Gordon started in camping at Indian Head Camp in Pennsylvania before directing a four week summer camp in New England. In 2000 he and his wife Fran bought their own summer camp in West Virginia named Camp Twin Creeks. Gordon grew up in Scotland and attended Telford College in Edinburgh where he studied physical education and sports coaching.

Phyllis Fein

Program Director of FashionCampNYC

Phyllis Fein has a unique blend of industry expertise and teaching experience as the current chairperson of the Fashion Merchandising program at SUNY Westchester Community College and the Nelson Peltz Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship. Phyllis began her fashion career as an Associate Buyer for Women's Designer Clothing at Saks Fifth Avenue after graduating from New York University’s Stern School of Business with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing. After completing her MBA, also at NYU’s Stern School of Business, Phyllis began a career in Brand Marketing, first at Playtex Products on the Infant Care business and then as New Product Development Marketing Manager on Banana Boat Suncare. She then entered the Marketing arena of Beauty and Cosmetics Branding specializing in New Product Development Marketing. At L’Oreal, Phyllis was the Director of International Product Development of skincare, haircare, and haircolor and then at Estee Lauder, she was Director of Makeup Marketing working on Color Cosmetics and Fashion Statements.

Phyllis’ teaching career at Westchester Community College is a great synergy of her love of the creative business world and as a way to enjoy the modern thinking and share new ideas with students. She has edited and published academic texts and text supplements for Marketing, Retail Management, Fashion Merchandising & Advertising textbooks. Phyllis continues to be very active in the world of fashion as a Board Member of FIT’ Textile’s Marketing Program.

Her philosophy of work and play is: "The important thing is not to stop questioning." - Albert Einstein

Sonja Peach

Executive National Vice President Arbonne

Arbonne Executive National Vice President Sonja Peach is from Woodward Oklahoma. Her background is education and she has owned and operated a retail business for many years.

In a rural farming community, Sonja has built an expansive and exemplary Arbonne business by teaching others how to achieve their dreams through Arboone. She is looking forward to educating students in the viability of Network Marketing as a career.

There are no secrets, magic formulas or strategies to building a successful business with Arbonne. You have to learn and earn your way to the top!

Sonja is the mother of three sons and a Grandmother of two beautiful granddaughters.

Paula Zorn

Regional Vice President Arbonne

Arbonne Regional Vice President and Independent Consultant, Paula Zorn, was born and raided in Oklahoma. Her background is exercise physiology and she has also been a licensed massage therapist for over 20 years. Paula and her husband Dave now reside in West Virginia ski country where they own and operate Locust Hill Bed and Breakfast.

With Paula’s background in health and wellness, Arbonne was a perfect fit. She is looking forward to teaching FashionCamp students how Arbonne helped her create a healthy lifestyle and financial independence.

She believes having faith and perseverance will build a strong network marketing team.

ANNE CASHILL

VICE PRESIDENT OF CORPORATE DESIGN AND MERCHANDISING

With over 20 years of experience in the fashion industry, Anne Cashill has a unique combination of inherent merchant and design abilities, and a keen business sense. In her current role at Liz Claiborne Inc., Cashill fosters the spirit of innovation and creativity within the global design and merchandising communities.

Across the company’s portfolio of brands, Cashill supports and nurtures growth by identifying and communicating strategic business opportunities, design direction, as well as new merchandising strategies. She also provides brand and competitive analyses, manages new business incubation and brand positioning, and formulates creative solutions to industry challenges.

At Liz, Cashill is also head of the LCI Creative Resource Studio, a corporate in-house graphic design and marketing team that offers strategic solutions for brand initiatives. She has also been an integral part in the development of The Corporate Design Resource Center, a centralized hub, under her direction, that offers inspiration to designers from an expansive collection of periodicals, movies, archive prints, and trend materials. The Center also houses a color and trim lab.

Ms. Cashill joined Liz Claiborne Inc. as Director of Corporate Design and Merchandising in 2002. Previously, she worked at Target Corporation as Design Director for Women’s Apparel, leading the women’s design and product development team toward a new design and brand-focused strategy. During her tenure, women’s business doubled in sales volume, a success that lead to a radical change in Target’s approach across all departments. Prior to Target, Cashill served as Merchandise Manager at Nike. While working for a high-end knitwear company, she was bestowed the honor of designing the headwear and sweaters for the 1986 U.S. Winter Olympic Team.

After serving four years as a Board member of Fashion Group International, Cashill was recently appointed to the Board of the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan. She also manages Liz Claiborne Inc.’s relationship with St. Jude’s Hospital, raising over $350,000 per year for cancer research.

Ms. Cashill received a B.F.A from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and has studied at Parsons School of Design. She and her husband split their time between their homes in New York City, Minneapolis, and Brazil.