Upper School

EXPLORING THE BUSINESS OF FASHION

When she arrived at the Lycée as a Seconde student, Clementine Djomby took quick stock of the school’s extracurricular offerings and found them lacking. An accomplished seamstress with a keen interest in fashion design, she makes some of her own clothes and takes design classes in her spare time. She has also been exploring trend forecasting, visual merchandising, and brand management, all key facets of the fashion business. Clementine wanted a club where creative students could delve into the tangible and the intangible aspects of fashion, and in its absence decided to simply create her own, hoping that she wasn’t the only one in the whole school interested in the fashion business. The “Club Business Mode” was born.

The purpose of the Club Business Mode is to introduce students to marketing concepts as well as creative and designing techniques. In essence, the club is an introduction to a university Fashion Business degree. It is a blend of theoretical and practical aspects which helps members develop a better understanding of the industry. There are currently a dozen members. One student wishes to continue her studies in the fashion industry. Others are creatives and think they may study design. And finally there are those who liked the poster, came to the first meeting, and stayed, because they thought the concept was great and want to be part of the project.

As of this writing, the club is working on the creation of the Lycée International’s 70th anniversary merchandise collection, including sweatshirts, tote bags, and mugs. It is an impressive first project! From logo design to compiling and analyzing market statistics, adapting a concept to physical constraints, or simply meeting deadlines and hosting meetings, it is essentially taking club members through the whole process of small business creation. As president, Clementine hopes the project will be successful, demonstrate that the club is capable of taking on large-scale projects and open new doors in the future. She also estimates that if this year is full of excitement and creativity, the club will attract more members.

Unsurprisingly, Clementine aspires to pursue fashion business studies at university and to eventually make it her career. She is looking forward to a summer school program at l’Institut Française de la Mode in Paris. In the meantime, she is thrilled with the direction the Club Business Mode is taking, and is proud to be its founder. “I really like convincing people, making eye-catching presentations, speaking publicly, managing groups, sewing, drawing, designing… I didn’t create

this club for my college applications. Creating a club has just been a personal goal of mine and I am just grateful that everything is going smoothly so far.” We’d dare say she’s on the right path.

Margaret Jenkins, Assistant Director for Development, Communications & External Relations