AAPN member Haggar Clothing Co. - and our own Tony Anzovino - are not afraid of taking risks, and what some might have considered a risky prospect - a contest to find the next member of their design team - has actually worked out very well.
Haggar Clothing Co. selected the winner of the first Fashion Institute Of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) SuperLabâ menswear design competition as Zachary Hall of Sierra Madre, California. He bested two other finalists to take home the top prize – an offer for a full-time position on the Haggar design team.
The competition, which began with eight graduates of the FIDM menswear program in August, required participants to develop plans for 15-piece collections that demonstrate a deep understanding of the millennial consumer market and the Haggar brand. Beyond the designs, Haggar also asked finalists to source materials and create the technical specifications and details that a factory would need to produce each garment.
Competitors faced two rounds of judging, with a presentation of six initial silhouettes in August and today’s full collection presentation, where they were evaluated on criteria including creativity, appropriateness to market and the collection’s viability.
According to Tony, who is, of course, Chief Sourcing and Merchandising Officer at Haggar, “This contest model isn’t something a lot of brands would try. Working with FIDM brought us three highly qualified designers, any of whom could have been a good fit on our team. That said, we are delighted to begin work with Zach this summer.”