Student Designs on Display at Mall

A semester-long project has come to fruition, timed to the holiday season, as graduating seniors in Columbia College Chicago’s Fashion Studies Department put their work on display at Hawthorn Center in Vernon Hills, Ill.

Nine students envisioned and created the mall’s holiday display, working with the Westfield Hawthorn Center and Oak Street Design to construct, build and install the displays throughout Hawthorn Center. The displays are 3-D, interactive and are themed in the holiday spirit including “Love,” “Wish” and “Family.” The works, including Christmas trees made of flowers, gingerbread men, books and bags from the different shops in the mall showcasing holiday gift ideas, will be on view through the holiday season.

"This truly was a capstone experience for the students," explained Kate Schaefer, Fashion Studies faculty member. "The students listened to the client, researched and presented their ideas, and were able to take their ideas from conception to execution. They relied on skills and experiences from previous coursework to design and install displays that created an impact at the shopping center."

In addition to a unique hands-on experience, the collaboration between Westfield Hawthorn and Columbia College required students to research and gather information about their display proposals before creating and building them for the client. The class, Decision Making: Fashion Management, a required course for graduating seniors, implements critical business thinking with real world experiences.