Alumni

     Shortly after graduating from VCU in the spring of 2002, Michael secured a phone interviw with Polo Ralph Lauren. It then took a summer of determination to finally be considered for the position of Merchandising Assistant in children's buying office. After being offered the entry level position, Michael moved to NYC to start his first job in September, 2002.

His first year at Polo was spent assisting the entire merchant team of the children's outlet division. He assisted in forecasting trends but also learned a tremendous amount from seasoned buyers, planners, and distribution analysts. During the spring of 2003, Michael was selected as a new candidate for the Executive Training Program within Polo Ralph Lauren. He was selected from thousands of applicantsfor the only trainee position within the marketing and advertising division. In the summer of 2004, Michael had the opportunity to move his career to Barney's as a Senior Assistant Buyer in Men's Contemporary Clothing.

     It’s more than luck that’s landed this recent graduate of the Department of Fashion and Merchandising at her coveted job at Lucky Magazine, (link to http://www.luckymag.com/) the magazine about shopping. She says, “Place yourself where you want to be. Be a hard worker, treat everyone equally and believe in yourself.” Apparently, she’s following her own advice.

     After graduation in 2005, Kathryn moved to New York with an apartment and no job. She soon landed a position with Bing Bang Jewelry in Brooklyn (link to www.bingbangjewelry.com/) as an assistant. During her first week, Marc Jacobs asked Bing Bang to create a jewelry line for his ’06 runway show. It’s been full speed ever since.

     Kathryn was with the jeweler for a year when a friend of a friend introduced her to an editor at Lucky. She was brought on as Assistant to the Senior Accessories Editor. It’s Kathryn’s job to find the jewelry that the magazine will feature. “It’s so rewarding to find a jewelry designer you feel is great and they’re featured in the magazine. We shoot anything from $20 to $20,000 at Lucky, so we learn the entire market.

     She believes internships are essential. She also says to, “try to figure out your true strength and be proactive and go for that. Perfect your resume and target it. Find those contacts! My VCU contacts were a great start.”

 Upon graduation from the Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising at Virginia Commonwealth University Tamara Rogers Rabil entered Hechts Department store's Executive Training Program. As an area sales manager she managed 20 associates and $2.1 million department. In 1994 she became the merchandise coordinator for Guess? Jeans in Richmond, Virginia where she managed 63 stores totaling a $3.3 million volume. She tracked monthly sales and executed shop installations in 42 stores. She was the main source of feedback for buyers and corporate management.

Unable to resist the call of the big city, Tamara moved to New York in 1996 to become the East Coast Regional Training Manager for Guess? Jeans. She organized and facilitated leadership conferences for all merchandise coordinators across the United States, and developed 22 product knowledge video broadcasts for department managers and sales associates. Business increased 13% during her tenure. In just two years Tamara was promoted to National Specialist Program Manager for Guess? developing and marketing sales staffing programs for 18 national department stores for both the junior and men's divisions. She was also responsible for recruiting, training and tracking the sales of over 300 specialists across the country. In 1998 she became the Training Manager of Donna Karan New York and then moved on to become the Manager of Training for Polo Ralph Lauren in New York City. She designed and implemented the Standards of Visual Excellence training program and the New Employee Orientation training program for corporate employees while at Polo. Building upon her expertise in training, Tamara returned to VCU to become an assistant professor in the Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising in 1999. She taught Advanced Store Development, Introduction to the Apparel Industry and Trend Forecasting via a distance learning agreement. She also began her graduate work in Adult Education. Tamara returnedto New York City to finish her graduate work at Columbia University receiving an M.A. in Adult and Continuing Education in 2003. She also married an avid golfer, Al Rabil, and inspired by her husband's enthusiasm for golf, she took up the sport. Almost immediately she realized that women golfers had demands that were not being met by either the fashion or golf industry. She created TEGNA, a line of golf wear exclusively for women with a fresh perspective on style, silhouette, color, fabric and performance. The successful CEO and Designer of TEGNA has just become the mother to a beautiful baby girl, Ruby.

 Jemmalyn G. Santos graduated from the Department of Fashion Design and Merchandising at Virginia Commonwealth University in May of 1995. Her fashion merchandising major had already taken her to New York City as an intern for the prestigious firm Givenchy. In January of 1996 she began her fashion career as a product assistant for the Federated private label company Jennifer Moore. There she honed her skills analyzing fashion trends and sourcing product while monitoring samples and making line presentations.

About 8 months later, Jemmalyn moved to Ann Taylor Loft as an assistant Production Manager working diligently with designers, merchants, vendors and overseas offices. During her 4-year stint with The Loft she worked her way up to the Product Development Manager of Woven Casual Separates and Woven Tops. In 2000, Jemmalyn assumed the responsibilities of Associate Manager of Textile Development for Banana Republic. She created a generic textile reference library and assumed ownership for the textile development process for sleepwear and outerwear departments She also assisted in the development of all textiles for both men's and women's wovens. Jemmalyn was then promoted to Manager of Textile Development for Wovens. Her responsibilities include research of new textiles and trends for each season and sourcing fabrics for outerwear, swimwear, accessories, sleepwear and intimate departments. She works closely with design and product management teams, and takes complete ownership for the development of wovens for the men's division. As a loyal and dedicated alumnus of the Department of Fashion at VCU, Jemmalyn constantly supplies job leads to the Department and attends alumni activities to share her fashion and NYC experiences. We are very proud of her accomplishments and thankful for her continuous support.

     Marie West, the founder and president, started Body Wrappers® June 1980 in her apartment in Queens, New York with a $1000.00 inheritance and incorporated Body Wrappers, Attitudes In Dressing, Inc. Jan., 17, 1981. Marie, who studied fashion at Virginia Commonwealth University, started the business with the idea of being a fashion designer. Her first design, which put her on the map as a company, was called "Le Wrap". It was a one piece, one-size-fits-all wrap type leisurewear garment; hence the name Body Wrappers®.
Soon after starting her business, Marie partnered up with Nicholas Karant. In 1983 she was joined by Michael Rubin, partner and CEO and together they have built Body Wrappers into one of the most successful dance apparel companies in the world with over 100 employees.

Today Body Wrappers® showroom is located on Broadway in New York City, where every dancer hopes to end up. "We are right here where all the action is," says Marie West, "and through our model Maria Kowroski, principle dancer of the New York City Ballet, we know first hand what the career dancers like to wear. We then take those ideas and adjust them for our young hopefuls, who are between the ages of three and twenty."

Most of Body Wrappers® products are made in the USA, in the factory in Elizabeth New Jersey. Marie's partner Michael Rubin, is there every day managing every aspect of the operation to assure quality control and good service to their customers.

Marie remains a hands-on owner who stays involved in every aspect of her company and who listens to her customers needs. As a result, Body Wrappers® has become one of the prominent names in the dance apparel business with such famous brands as totalSTRETCH™, Princess Aurora™, Dance B Tween™, Under Wraps™ and Premiere Collection™. Known for high quality in tights and dance apparel designs, Body Wrappers® continues to grow, just like their customers.  website

Recently nominated as the President of The Dancewear Association of Canada, Marie also serves on the Board of United Dance Merchants of America and on the Fashion Advisor Board of VCU.