Home Products Development is an #unconvenional major at FIT, but our students are awe-inspiring!

Meet Aliyah Freeman, class of 2020 and recipient of the Fashion Scholarship Fund and Virgil Abloh Scholarship.

“The Fashion Scholarship Fund works directly with the country’s most talented young students from diverse backgrounds and awards over $1 million each year in scholarships to help these students succeed in all sectors of the industry including design, merchandising, marketing analytics, and supply chain.

Freeman’s case study, focusing on design and product development, looks at Pyer Moss: The Reclamation Collection, a sustainable collection of home products designed to encourage collective Black rest and healing. The concept offers sustainable solutions for the home that reflect the ethereal beauty of Black American culture while prioritizing collective rest and healing in an ever-changing world.

“Looking at the way the home has been impacted by COVID and how people are renegotiating their spaces and how they’re interacting with their products,” Freeman said. “I wanted to incorporate the post-pandemic ideals and values of African American consumers in the home, so I started to reimagine the home for them and how values from the past and the present kind of impacted the way that we all interact with our homes. So I approached the case study from a perspective of different values—folklore, music, and different aspects of the experience of Black culture.”

Additionally, Freeman was named one of 23 recipients of the Virgil Abloh “Post-Modern” Scholarship. In July 2020, Virgil Abloh announced the creation of the fund, raising $1 million to support the next generation of Black fashion industry leaders.”

Read the full story at FIT Newsroom.

At FIT, mentorship doesn’t stop at graduation

It’s not just the high-level industry experience and connections that make FIT faculty special, it’s also their commitment to educating, nurturing, and mentoring students. Often the relationships shaped in the classroom flourish after students become alumni and need help in their careers. Such has been the case with David Brogna, retired assistant professor of Home Products Development, and Leeann Brzozowski, who graduated from the program in 2002.

Brzozowski adores Brogna: “He’s one of the most influential people in my life to date.” And Brogna feels connected to Brzozowski (and many other former students) in an almost parental way. “It’s not so much that I’m always in touch with them, it’s that they’re always there,” he says. “Leeann doesn’t know how many times I talk about her and her products.”

Brogna taught at FIT for 30 years and wrote the core curriculum for the Home Products Development program. Early in his career, he worked as a merchant for Macy’s and A&S; for the past 24 years, he and his partner have owned In Home, a housewares and furniture boutique in the upscale Hamptons village of Sag Harbor. In 2005, he received the Paradigm Award for lifetime achievement from the Home Fashion Products Association. He retired from FIT in 2018 but keeps in touch with most of his former students.

In Brzozowski’s second year at FIT, she’d been accepted into the Interior Design bachelor’s program when Brogna’s introductory class in Home Products Development lured her away. After she graduated, he guided her toward showroom sales, because she enjoyed customer interaction and the “limitless” commission-based income (she is currently a national sales director for the furniture company Chai Ming Studios). She kept up a phone and text-message correspondence with Brogna; every time she needed to make a career decision, including a few risky leaps, she consulted him first. “Our alumni need a sounding board,” he says. “They need to know that there’s someone covering them. I wouldn’t let them make the wrong move.”

That correspondence accelerated when Brzozowski launched her own product. Born and raised on the Jersey Shore, she has always loved lying out on the beach but could rarely get comfortable. On her stomach, she resorted to digging holes in the sand to make room for her chest; on her back, she’d roll up another towel to elevate her head. “You’re at a place of leisure, where you’re supposed to be relaxed,” Brzozowski says. “This was crazy.”

She decided to do something about it. In 2015, she began developing the Sol Mat, a thick foam mat with two ergonomic advantages: a concealed chest contour that allows for “breathing room” and a built-in pillow. (A men’s version includes the pillow but not the contour.) “It’s an upgrade to the beach towel,” she says. “It’s lighter than a yoga mat. And you can remove the cover and throw it in the laundry.”

Brzozowski perfected the design and found a way to manufacture it in the U.S. with marine-grade foam and fade-resistant Sunbrella fabric. But launching a new product is a giant challenge for a solo entrepreneur, and she turned to her mentor for help.

Brogna guided her through the patenting process, helped her identify her target market, and advised her on creating brand extensions, such as a Sol Mat for kids and one for dogs. His nephew did her graphic design. And Brogna recommended that she host pop-up shops to hear customer feedback firsthand. In 2018, he invited Brzozowski to set up a Memorial Day pop-up inside In Home. “Everyone who walked in was fascinated by the product,” he says.

Brzozowski also held an event on Shelter Island and one at the SoHo outpost of The Laundress, an eco-friendly cleaning products company. “These pop-ups have been huge for research,” Brzozowski says. “It’s fuel—it gets you motivated.”

Thanks to a connection from Brogna, Brzozowski is in talks with Wayfair to sell the product through the mass online retailer. First, though, she is exploring options to produce it at a lower price point. The average retail price is currently $250.

“It’s like I’m back at school,” Brzozowski says. “It’s like I’m doing my senior project on another scale.”

“But this time it’s not for a grade,” Brogna responds, “it’s everything.”

Class of 2019 Capstone Presentations

Welcome to the Future of Home

Thursday, May 9 2019 @ 6:30pm
FIT Katie Murphy Amphitheatre

The trip included group activities pertaining to “best in booth” judging, fact/inspiration finding for our individual upcoming projects, and a great dinner out together.

After our NY Now field trip, we were told the Chicago show was about 3-4 times larger. This was intimidating at first, except that we had about ten times as much time to explore. Starting with an early flight on Saturday morning, straight to McCormick Place to hit our assigned areas (Wired & Well, Clean & Contain, or Dine & Décor). The range of booth styles and sizes were so much larger than those at NY Now-we could actually walk around in most of them. We set out listing our faves and describing what we liked about them.

That night, dinner at Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria (YUM-regardless of your NYC vs. Chicago pizza preference) where on the walk over, our group inadvertently traipsed through someone’s proposal, (she said yes!) and then on Sunday, back to it for Experience Day. The juniors were given an early morning additional intro to the show, and then were encouraged to split up to meet students at other tables, and while initially we all sort of cringed at the forced mingling, (joining a table full of strangers, not usually anyone’s favorite!), each table had a mentor/leader, which made the networking much easier.

Ours was Elliot Benitez, exhibiting at the show to introduce his patented 6-at-a-time tortilla toaster. Something I had never thought of, but he explained how many hours his own mother missed of family meal time, toasting one tortilla at a time for everyone having a taco, so he invented this product. He gave a lot of great insight into what brought him to now being an inventor and business owner.  His product is now available for purchase at Sur la Table. We had the opportunity to ask questions and learn about the world of home products from someone with relevant, recent expertise.

We were encouraged to attend the sessions that interested us; included in these were cooking demos by Emeril, Robert Irvine and a range of other talks by industry experts.

Among the most interesting new products I saw was a juicer that determined the juice you should make after measuring your body mass index, by pressing your thumbs onto two small pads on the juicer. It made me wonder if someday we will be able to just get a meal plan for the day based on our body composition and goals, right in our homes. I also liked that a variety of new devices incorporated a hollow bottom for storing USB/charging cables. What a world, to not have to look through my entire apartment to find the cord for whatever I need to charge! (currently turning it upside down looking for my Clarisonic charger, so I can wash my face again).

Overall, the show was a great learning and class bonding adventure. We had some time to explore on our own (The Bean, The Skydeck), hang out together outside of class, and see where this degree could lead us.

Instead of meeting in room 307 as we usually do, we met in the enormous Javits Center, and were advised in advance to wear comfortable shoes and take any shopping bags that were offered to us. Both very helpful pieces of advice, because there is a lot of walking, and a lot of samples and freebies to carry around!

We split up in groups, with assignments to examine products, trends and booths. Fortuantely we were given smaller categories to choose from, since there was a lot to see. I was in the Tabletop & Gourmet Housewares group, and the entire section was carpeted in a light blue rug. Once we knew what color rug to look for, it was easy!

When we got back to school, we did presentations on our favorite brands and booths. Among the faves were Swig Life, Provence Platters, Corkcicle, The Napkins, Deborah Rhodes, Bungalow 5 and a long list of others. Trends we saw included a lot of wood (trays, tabletop), varieties of sustainable products (straws, cups), and I noticed what I called “sassy sayings” (see towel), bright colors/color blocking, and faux marble.

It was hard to see everything in one three-hour visit, but it was very easy to find a lot to like! Overall, great practice for what to do and look for at trade shows!\

Every year a group of Home Products Development students, from The Fashion Institute of Technology, take a trip to London and Paris over winter break for the purpose of researching trends in the home field and attending the trade show Maison et Objet. While exploring these two great cities in small groups we often make discoveries, and mine happened to be the lovely area of Brick Lane.

Brick Lane is about a 15-20 minute taxi ride from central London and it was truly the mecca for all things vintage, shopping, and street art. We began our adventure at Box Park which was a street filled with shipping containers where local entrepreneurs were selling everything from handmade jewelry to frozen yogurt.

Our trip to Brick Lane was on a Sunday so luckily we were able to walk through the flea market that takes place there every weekend. The market, best known for their fur jackets, sold for as low as 15 pounds and regular jackets for 10 pounds, a great spot for some bargains! Along with jackets, there was fresh produce, local street food, and a huge selection of accessories. If you were not able to score your dream jacket at the market, no worries because there are up to 5 vintage stores located on each street with a unique, curated selection to choose from. Brick Lane has the “Brooklyn” feel and is perfect place to go if you want a taste of New York in a new city!

We met at the brand new (less than a week old at the time!) One Kings Lane store, at 143 Spring Street, (incidentally, 1/10th mile from where cronuts were invented/are sold). On the corner of Wooster, we admired the multi-floor glass side of the store. Not surprisingly, everything, including the building, is beautiful. Inside are cozy seating groups, a wide curved staircase, and an exposed brick wall. If these walls could talk, they would say “Can you believe this used to be a Crocs store?”

Initially I planned to do my comp shopping presentation on some of their pillows, but the woven vs. print options were all at a similar price point ($185ish), which didn’t really give enough to compare, but, it was really fun to be inside One Kings Lane and see their products in person, off the computer screen.

Next we headed to Crate&Barrel (.5 miles from the nearest cronut), always a treat in NYC to go into a place that huge. It was here that I decided to compare dish towels for my presentation.

All of our field trips this semester were really interesting, and were during great weather, which made them even more of a treat.

“I am incredibly grateful to be the recipient of the Carole Sloan Memorial Scholarship this year. I am an international student from Sweden who had big dreams of moving to New York City and attending FIT. The Home Products Development program turned out to be the perfect choice for me. During my first year I have been academically challenged, gained valuable professional skills, and learned about the industry. I have had the opportunity to apply this knowledge at trade shows, showroom visits, and as an intern. I am excited to start my senior year and to honor the legacy of Carole Sloan.” ~ Jessica Jakobsson, Class of 2019

The Carole Sloan Memorial Scholarship was established in 2011 by Stephen Pond, founder of Home Textiles Today and Furniture Today, in honor of Carole Sloan who was a longtime editor and writer with the publications. The Home Products department is grateful for the continuous gift which honors a FIT Home Products Development student each year in pursuing their education and passion for the home industries.