admin Cal Poly Pomona’s Master of Science in International Apparel Management is a program that was launched in 2020 whose focus is to teach students about the business side of the fashion industry. In its short time the program has already graduated successful students who went on to establish themselves in the apparel industry, such as Irma Villanueva.
After completing her bachelor in apparel merchandising management and her Master of Science in International Apparel Management in 2022 at Cal Poly Pomona, she won awards and has been recognized in the industry. She is now a lecturer at the Department of Apparel Merchandising and Management at Cal Poly Pomona, while also working towards her Ph.D. degree in apparel, merchandising, and design at Iowa State University.
When asked what drew her to the programs at Cal Poly Pomona, Villanueva says “It was Cal Poly Pomona’s polytechnic learning approach, which I felt would build me into a more employable professional”. Thanks to the program, Irma says she learned hands-on skills such as “computer aided design” CAD skills, which she needed to enter the workforce in the industry.
Irma has earned a few awards such as the best graduate project from her department, as well as the Claire Shaeffer Award for Outstanding Marketable Design from the ITAA. The award recognizes creative wearable designs marketed for today’s consumers. Additionally, the program also enabled her to present a paper at the ITAA conference in Denver, one of the best peer reviewed conferences in the industry.
The Master of Science in International Apparel Management gives students an opportunity to learn about a different side of the fashion industry which includes business and research.
For more information interested applicants can visit: www.cpp.edu/cpge
