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A Taste of the Fashion & Luxury (FLux) Curriculum

*NYU Stern’s Fashion & Luxury MBA program was renamed to the Luxury & Retail MBA program.*

Rose Soiffer-Kosins Headshot

Rose Soiffer-Kosins is a current Fashion & Luxury MBA student, specializing in Digital Strategy and Luxury Marketing. Prior to Stern, Rose worked in merchandise planning at Issey Miyake and styling at Nordstrom. Outside of work and school, Rose loves collecting vintage clothing and exploring Prospect Park.

My FLUX classes so far have covered a diverse range of topics, from Finance and Accounting to Marketing and Strategy. As someone from a more creative background and a tendency to avoid math at all costs, I have surprised myself with what I have been able to accomplish (like learning how to prepare an income statement). Much of this success is a result of coaching from quality professors who have demonstrated an unprecedented interest in my personal and professional development. Here are two classes that have impacted me the most so far: 

Becoming You: Crafting the Authentic Career You Want and Need with Professor Suzy Welch

I was lucky enough to be the first class of students to take “Becoming You” with Suzy Welch, and would highly recommend this elective to any incoming Stern students. Professor Welch, a bestselling author, Harvard Business Review editor, Today Show contributor, and wife of General Electric CEO Jack Welch, thoughtfully guided her first class of Stern students through a career coaching journey. Suzy provided valuable career-building insights through personal anecdotes, speakers (including the Editor in Chief of Linkedin!), and coaching exercises. My friends knew this class as my Tuesday morning “therapy” because every time I walked out the door I would be gushing about a new career epiphany. Although most of my classes so far have been focussed on learning specific business skills, Becoming You allowed me to step back and think more deeply about how to shape the rest of my Stern experience to align with my future goals. Stern’s student-run podcast, Stern Chats, recently featured Suzy on their podcast – I encourage you to listen!

Retail Strategy & Analytics with Professor Jack Hanlon

Retail Strategy & Analytics was a Tuesday evening favorite amongst my peers and I. 

Professor Hanlon, current VP of Data at Reddit, brought his impressive retail expertise to our case study discussions and accompanying lectures. Although this core course was a class of 50 (FLUX, Full-time, and Part-time MBA students combined), Professor Hanlon provided individualized feedback on every assignment. He emphasized the importance of learning from our peers, and encouraged us to share experiences from our previous positions. Although I have learned so much from my FLUX classmates, learning from non-FLUX students helped me to develop cross-industry perspectives. With guidance from Jack, our class unpacked cases from companies like Zappos, Home Depot, and Starbucks. Some companies persevered while others floundered. By the end of the course, I developed a playbook of strategies to solve a wide variety of challenges that any business may encounter, regardless of industry. 

These are just two of the many transformative courses I have taken during the past two semesters. Although it is bittersweet, I am looking forward to my final semester as a FLUX student. I will continue to expand my quantitative skillset through a Data Driven Decision Making course with Professor Xiao Liu, and will further prepare myself for my post-graduate career in a Luxury Marketing course with Professor Thomai Serdari. Although the FLUX curriculum is certainly not easy, it has been incredibly rewarding, and I feel confident that I am prepared to enter the workforce with more expertise than when I left it! 

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Learning About the Fashion & Luxury MBA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jennifer Rice comes to NYU Stern with over six years of experience as a Design Director in sustainability and performance brands. After working as a designer for shoes and ready-to-wear at Zero + Maria Cornejo, she went on to start up her own consulting company in 2021, aligning new and established brands with partners across the east coast for brand development and production services. Jennifer is a Graduate Ambassador, AVP of Admissions for SISA, and admissions committee member for SWIB. Aside from work and school, you can find Jennifer at Washington Square Park dog run with her roommates, Meredith and Elizabeth, and their dog, Stella. 

Being a Graduate Ambassador, we get loads of questions surrounding the F&L MBA. My parents always told me to live by the mantra to be curious from every angle. I.e. go down the path of research that will fulfill the questions most important to you, personally. Investigating is encouraged when looking at any MBA program you may be interested in applying to, as each program will offer a different set of unique characteristics and offerings that are catered to different candidates. So while there’s no one clear answer, I’m going to do my best to lay out the system I made for myself during my era of MBA research that helped me make my decision!

1. Attend.

Sadly, I don’t mean attending actual Stern quite yet! I mean going on our school’s website (click here) to sign up for “Ask me Anything” sessions with current students (“AMAs”), Info Sessions, and any other school sponsored events. Typically, these sessions are led by students currently in the program, Admissions Members, and sometimes even Professors teaching mock classes! You will not only understand through the presentations what Stern and the Fashion & Luxury program is all about, but you’ll also gain insight to the vibe of the community. For me, this was really important for myself to understand that if Stern was an environment I would not only be successful as a student, but also successful in feeling I could give back to the community. 

The AMA’s are great for those burning questions you may have on the student experience and what the course load looks and feels like. You are free to ask questions to a current student and hear the questions from other prospective students as well (this is something I appreciated, as I didn’t always know what to ask, so I liked the opportunity to hear other insightful questions!). 

Info Sessions are hosted by an Admissions Member and a Graduate Ambassador. This is great to understand the course schedule, recruitment opportunities, and more information on our immersion programs. Additionally, the Admissions Member will walk you through the application and its requirements. I think every applicant should attend at least one of these sessions for further insight in applying and attending the Fashion & Luxury MBA at Stern.

2. Read, listen, and investigate.

I cannot emphasize this step enough. Read these awesome Fashion & Luxury blog posts, go on other MBA news coverage websites, and watch videos posted by Stern about the program! A lot of times we get questions Stern has already answered (and answered even better than I ever could have) about the culture, scheduling, and opportunities during and after the program. When I was trying to visualize myself in the program, I took to reading about the program from other forums and news outlets to really understand the professors (and their classes offered) and the community Stern encompasses. The videos of students speaking about the International Immersion and the career placement opportunities were a quick google away (and also on the website!) and got me thinking about my own career ambitions post graduation. Just getting back from our Immersion trip in January, my experience was filled with not only meeting with inspiring international industry leaders, but also learning about craftsmanship and luxury supply chain processes. 

3. Reach out!

After you’ve done steps 1 & 2, it’s time to reach out to us! (click here). Hot tip: It’s always so impressive when it’s clear a prospective student has done their research before contacting current students. It’s clear through your thoughtful questions that you’re genuinely interested in the program, which makes our time to speak with you that much more helpful! We will always do our best to answer your questions, and can segue to our fellow incredible classmates that may be better suited to answer your questions. This is a great opportunity to get that next level of understanding of the program and professionals it attracts– fulfilling that final piece of the puzzle in your journey of understanding if Stern’s Fashion & Luxury MBA program is right for you.

4. Write it out.

Finally, after all the investigating, I took to writing out my thoughts. I weighed out themes based on how important it was to my MBA experience (i.e. Location: NYC, Score: A+, Importance: 5/5). I know, I know, this might seem excessive to some, but it helped me make my decision that much easier and feel that much more logical because I was able to balance the qualitative and quantitative aspects for choosing the perfect MBA culture for me. As I said in the beginning of this blog post, there really is no perfect way to learn more about a program, as long as you make sure you investigate from every angle, giving you the confidence in making a decision for the next chapter of your career!

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Choosing Between the Two-Year and the Fashion & Luxury MBA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cecilia Marmolejos is a current Fashion and Luxury MBA student, specializing in Luxury Marketing. Prior to Stern, Cecilia worked at Wayfair as a Site merchandiser, and as a merchant. Post-MBA, she plans to pursue a career in brand management. At Stern, she is involved in the luxury retail club, and Stern Women in Business. 

Deciding which MBA program to pursue is a big decision, especially with unique offerings like NYU Stern’s one-year Fashion & Luxury MBA. After I had decided to pursue an MBA, I began my research, looking into top schools across the country. One thing I knew for sure was that I wanted to go to a school that helped me break into the beauty and fashion industry. Out of all the schools I looked at, NYU Stern had the best network in that area due to the Fashion and Luxury program. In addition to the strong network, NYU also had such passionate and welcoming students. I spoke to several alumni, in addition to current students at the time, all of whom expressed a deep appreciation for the NYU community. It became clear that NYU would give me the opportunity to receive an incredible education, and also expose me to incredible people and opportunities in beauty and fashion with the Fashion and Luxury MBA. 

While doing my research, I also came to realize there were a number of differences between our program and the traditional, two-year MBA program. The Fashion and Luxury program is unique, with NYU being one of the first schools to design this new type of MBA program. The Fashion and Luxury MBA is a focused one-year program, running from May to May. In addition to the timeline, there are several elements in which the Fashion and Luxury program differs from the 2 year MBA program, which I have outlined below. The one-year is specifically designed to expose students to core business principles, while also immersing students in the world of luxury and retail. 

Community

Other than timing, I believe one of the main components that makes the Fashion and Luxury program unique is the close knit community that NYU fosters. Our cohort this year is 23 people, whom I have had the pleasure of getting to know very well over the last 7 months. We all share a passion for the retail and luxury industry, and have been able to attend different fashion and beauty events, plan trips and share insights on the industry. I have met some incredible people, with a variety of different backgrounds, skills, and experiences, which have been able to help me advance inside and outside of the classroom. 

Curriculum

In addition to the community that this program builds, the Fashion and Luxury MBA allows students the opportunity to take courses that genuinely interest them. During this program, I have been able to take core business classes that are tweaked to incorporate language from the fashion and luxury industry. The marketing class taken during the summer semester was a great example of this – the class was made of just Fashion and Luxury students, and we were able to review cases that focused on different retail companies. We were able to have meaningful conversations, and hear not only from the professor, but I was able to learn from my classmates. One of the cases that I really enjoyed reading during Marketing was the Dolce & Gabbana case. We learned about the missteps D&G took as a brand, and how an insensitive campaign they launched impacted their sales and growth in Asia. This case sparked great conversation, and a number of my classmates shared their insights and opinions on D&G’s PR nightmare. 

Networking Opportunities

Lastly, the Fashion and Luxury MBA differs due to the variety of networking opportunities that exist. The program has a series of courses called Stern Solutions courses, which involve a number of interactive components, including different panel discussions with various industry executives, corporate presentations from various professionals, and lastly, guest lectures from experts. This course was offered exclusively to Fashion and Luxury students in the summer, and was offered to both my cohort and Full-time MBA students and in the fall. These courses expose you to different topics within the industry, and allow you to network with professionals from different areas. A speaker that comes to mind that the class really enjoyed was Lillian Tung, the owner of the wellness company Fur. She shared her story discussing how she founded the company, what it took to build her business with a partner, and engaged in a Q&A session with the class. A number of students, including myself, are interested in entrepreneurship, and this was a great opportunity to learn more about creating a business, and the difficulties associated with raising capital, and dealing with investors. 

Overall, the Fashion and Luxury MBA program gives students the opportunity to gain an MBA, while specializing in a specific industry. It has been an incredible experience, and I am excited to continue to see what comes from the remainder of the program.  

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Community in the Fashion & Luxury MBA

*NYU Stern’s Fashion & Luxury MBA program was renamed to the Luxury & Retail MBA program.*

Jennifer Rice comes to NYU Stern with over six years of experience as a Design Director in sustainability and performance brands. After working as a designer for shoes and ready-to-wear at Zero + Maria Cornejo, she went on to start up her own consulting company in 2021, aligning new and established brands with partners across the east coast for brand development and production services. Jennifer is currently recruiting for Management Consulting roles and is an active member of SWIB, SISA, MCA, and Gridiron. Aside from work and school, Jennifer enjoys training for half marathons and watching Love Island.

As I climbed the famous Stern stairs on my first day of orientation, my hands were perspiring, and my mind was going a mile a minute. Filled with “what ifs,” I realized I was terrified of this new unknown I was entering. Though I prepared to get into Stern, with all the resume edits, recommendation letters, and GMAT studying, I never “prepared” for the moment I would begin my business school experience. I continued to panic inside my mind, until Joey, who would become a close friend of mine, walked right up to me on day 1 and couldn’t have been kinder and more relatable. I could feel my shakes subside as we discussed our previous careers and airline preferences. I was making my first B-school friend!

This experience I just described continued 22 more times that day and the next during orientation. It gave me comfort to realize we were, as High School Musical states “all in this together.” I can confidently say I was blown away by, and comfortable with this cohort by the time our LAUNCH orientation was completed. 

What was even more incredible was the bond we all created during the next few months of our first semester. From birthdays at TAO, to summer potluck rooftop dinners, and late-night zoom study sessions, your cohort becomes, as we’ve called it, FLUX Fam. Not understanding Statistics? You’ll have an entire army behind you ready to teach you covariance until you could lecture on it. Nervous about public speaking? You’ll receive podcasts to help boost your confidence and individuals ready to practice with you. Beyond the academic help, your fellow students will support you through life changes as well. Whether it’s a breakup, an engagement, or COVID finally knocking at your door, this group will be there with care packages and hugs (virtually, of course, if it’s COVID!). 

If you’re reading this blog post, you’re most likely familiar with all the top B-schools marketing their students’ emotional intelligence acuity. During my application process, I took it with a grain of salt. But it’s true – I never experienced this level of support and high emotional intelligence in a community prior to Stern. Being a business school student and a child who set booby traps to discover Santa Claus wasn’t real at 5 years old, I had to investigate why EQ was more than a marketing tactic at Stern. From getting to know all my fellow students in the program, we noticed we had a lot of niche aspects in common. 

  1. Empathy: we all have an exorbitantly high level of empathy for others, the majority reported this was due to life experiences. You’ll learn from your fellow students how they overcame tribulations in their life through the many conversations and late night studying during your time at Stern. 
  2. Investigative/Thinkers: When I say I learn more from my fellow students than the professors themselves, this is not to undermine the incredible education and facetime you receive with the world’s leaders who teach us. The students, though, will ask the questions you never knew to ask or even think! Your perspective on topics and concepts will quite literally expand during your time here. Pretty soon, you’ll also begin to emulate this.
  3. Diverse: In every sense of the word. Different backgrounds, upbringings, tribulations, and successes have filled this 23 student cohort. Every conversation results in a new immeasurable point of view. This aspect alone has sprouted a learning environment far beyond the classroom. . One genius professor at Stern, Dr. Jared Watson, introduced us to the Kruger-Dunning Effect: a cognitive bias in which people wrongly overestimate their knowledge or ability in a specific area. Aka, the more you know, the less your ego is on the matter. This holds true for our group, we all learn from each other, ego removed. It has resulted in incredible conversations and bonding experiences.
  4. Wise: I struggled on how to phrase this one, as I don’t mean wise as in the old man in a rocking chair sharing advice. I mean – wise in the sense that these individuals understand they have so much to learn from others, and they want to share their experiences with you to help you grow..

The community in the Fashion & Luxury MBA program has given me a network of brilliant people, future leaders, and forever friends. 

Good luck and I look forward to meeting you on Campus!

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Creating Community in a Virtual Environment

Devon Elovitz is a current Fashion & Luxury MBA, specializing in luxury marketing and business analytics. Prior to Stern, she worked at Christie’s Auction House in New York where she was a Business Manager for the Wine & Spirits, Watches, and Handbags teams. In 2020, her team launched the Streetwear collecting category. This role inspired a love of craftsmanship, storytelling, and innovative business models. 

I’ll be honest, I am not the most outgoing person and multiple personality tests have told me I’m an introvert.  So when I found out that I would begin my MBA program during the pandemic, I was nervous that I would have a difficult time finding my space and my people.  Especially considering the condensed nature of the program, I wanted to be sure I got the most out of the twelve months and a big part of that was networking, making friends and feeling connected to NYU.   

It’s never easy adjusting to a new place or routine but somehow because that “new place” was just a click away, I found that with the right tools and outlook I was settling in and finding my way in no time. I firmly believe that experiences are what you make them and this rule applies to virtual business school as well. For me, I’ve found that being engaged, actively reaching out to others and creating a dynamic experience that combines work and play has allowed me to find my footing and engage with the broader NYU community. Here are some key tips and takeaways from my experience thus far:

  • Don’t get lost in the zoom grid 

Unlike being the new girl in school (I’ve been there, it’s hard), the great thing about business school is that everyone is new and on the same page. Everyone is eager to make new friends and interact so there is no reason to be intimidated. My biggest piece of advice is to make sure you’re present and engaging with others. It’s too easy to hide behind a screen and get lost in the zoom grid. Raise your hand, participate in class and turn on your camera, even if it is an 8am accounting class. I promise everyone else will have a messy bed in their background and be wearing their pjs bottoms too. Being present will not only help you absorb the information better but it is a way of putting yourself out there so that others get to know you.  

  • Engage on Social Media

Outside of class you’ll want to get to know your peers on a more personal level. Again, don’t be afraid to friend someone on LinkedIn or Instagram. It isn’t creepy, I promise. One great thing our cohort leaders did was to create a google doc where people could post their handles to different platforms. Once your friend request is accepted, you’ll begin to learn a lot more about your classmates and when you see something fun or interesting, send them a message! I discovered one of my classmates loves to cook and I followed her cooking account. When she posts something that looks especially delicious I let her know with a hand clap or fire emoji. I think it makes her feel good and it helps develop the beginnings of a friendship that will hopefully lead to many invitations to taste her homemade treats…

  • Online Yogaahhh

I am a group fitness junkie and exercise classes have always been a way for me to feel connected to a community. One of the last things I did pre-quarantine last March was go to a final yoga class and I’ve really missed the vibe that comes with group exercise. With campus gyms closed, NYU has done a great job of organizing regular fitness programs that are accessible to the entire NYU community. My favorite is MindfulNYU which offers free yoga and meditation classes. The teachers are really engaging and I’ve found that there is still a great connection made over zoom. For me, this has been a great way to engage with the wider university community.  

  • Google Sheets and Slack are your friends

Tools like Slack and Google Sheets that I took for granted before are now necessities and, when used correctly, can facilitate meaningful conversations and connections. Business school is heavy on group projects and I have a tough time imagining how group assignments happened before Google Sheets existed. This is the key to successful group work and provides a perfect collaborative space in which to share knowledge and have all voices heard.  Likewise our cohort’s Slack channel has been a lifeline for our group.  We have channels about everything, from sharing academic resources, to podcasts and news articles.  #random was blowing up on April Fools with jokes only a FLUX student would understand.  Slack is also a way to vent about tough assignments, celebrate birthdays, and share much needed GIFs after particularly stressful classes. Think about it as a communication tool for all the things you would normally talk about in the hallway while walking to your next class. 

  • Coffee Chats 

There has never been an easier time to schedule a coffee chat.  In fact it’s so easy, you don’t even need the coffee. Zoom has opened up a whole new level of networking where asking for 30 minutes of someone’s time really means just 30 minutes and not a 20 minute subway ride to a busy cafe where you can’t find a spot to sit and talk quietly.  Now, just a click away, you can dive into a rich and informative conversation with the person across from you. NYU Alumni are known to be generous with their time and are eager to engage with students and taking advantage of Zoom means you can have efficient conversations and make meaningful connections. 

While the pandemic has been rough, it has also taught us how to utilize new tools in ways that I believe are able to enrich community building, especially within the context of graduate school.  Very soon there will be a day when in-person lectures and happy hours return, in the meantime I’m happy to report that I already feel part of the NYU community and feel I have found my people and my (virtual) space. This foundation built virtually will make that first real world experience that much sweeter.

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INTENDING

Given the structure and intensity of the one year MBA, I realized very early on that intentionality is key to maximize my experience and fully take advantage of everything Stern has to offer. Being intentional helps to set goals, from which I can work backwards to develop an actionable plan to success. Most importantly, this attitude will hopefully serves as a GPS, navigating me through my career transition and personal development while at Stern.

Intentional about goal-setting
Coming into Stern, I was absolutely sure about one thing – absorbing as much information as I can to enable my career switch from finance to brand management. With that, I looked into resources at Stern that would widen my network and introduce me to new opportunities. For example, I’m excited for Stern Luxury & Retail Club’s various events to start in the Fall semester, especially the Annual Stern Luxury & Retail Conference. I also look forward to building a relationship with my mentor Elana Drell-Szyfer. Professor Carr had set up the mentoring program where every student in the Stern Fashion & Luxury (F&L) MBA program is paired up to a mentor from the Stern Fashion and Luxury MBA Council. Beyond these, I made a list of activities and clubs that would help in my career transition. Although the list is constantly adjusted as I receive more information and develop more interests, having a concrete goal to strive towards set my sail straight in these first couple of weeks at Stern

Intentional about choosing classes
Choosing classes for the Fall semester is one of the most stressful things I have done thus far. Knowing that I only have one year and a finite number of credits for electives, I was initially overwhelmed by all the options. And even more so after talking to fellow students and alumni on which classes they found most intriguing. After dreading and avoiding the task for a week, I turned to my trusty old friend Excel and made a matrix. I went through the course catalogue, researched different professors and read samples syllabi. Eventually, I came up with a short list of classes that were interesting and listed (even color coded) them by professors, reviews/ratings and which specializations the classes fulfilled. This list saved me from multiple potential nervous breakdowns! Ideally, I’d like to graduate from the F&L program with specializations in Luxury Marketing, Strategy and Digital Marketing (very aspirational, I know). Because I am looking to expand knowledge in specific functional areas, being intentional with class selection was extremely important for me. With this list, I was able to assess how classes stacked up against each other and which ones maximized exposure to brand management and marketing skills.

Snapshot from my handy class selection list

Intentional about finding your tribe
The world isn’t just rainbows and butterflies and things get rough more frequently than we’d like. And so it takes a village to succeed. I’m so glad to share my MBA journey with these classmates and look forward to getting to know each other better in the course of next year. It’s crazy to think that we will be spending almost (if not) every day together for the next year. Cheers to friendships, shared experiences and growth!