On December 7, the West Orange High School Fashion Merchandising and Fashion Clothing classes participated in a career presentation conducted by Ms. Paula Pereira and staff from DreamLounge, a sleep and lounge-wear company located in New York City. During this dynamic presentation, the process of how a product develops was illustrated to the students, showing everything from the start of a concept on a trend board to how to market and sell a product on a sales floor. Students then participated in an activity in which they were given the chance to act as designers or a salesperson to create a lounge-wear product for the upcoming season.

Dream Lounge’s visit was truly influential for the students, as it left many motivated to pursue careers in the fashion world. Freshman Brunella Paredes said “They are very inspiring. I would love to do what they’re doing. It seems like so much fun to work in the fashion world.” Jason Munoz, a senior, agreed, “[Dream Lounge] inspired me to strive in the fashion world!” Williana La Rose even mentioned how this presentation helped extend her knowledge of the business side of fashion. “The presentation really helped me understand the workings of a fashion business.” she said.

“Our goal was to show the students that there are many facets of the fashion industry,” said Ms. Pereira. She added, “Many people think of ‘designer’ as the only thing you can do if you go into fashion, but there is the business aspect of it that can be very lucrative.” According to the students, this goal was reached. And who knows? Maybe in ten years or so, you’ll be seeing WOHS graduates running successful fashion businesses of their own, inspired, at least in part, by this meaningful presentation.