Industry leaders from Kontoor Brands visited campus on Tuesday, April 22, to participate in the 12th Annual CARS Industry Summit. The Industry Summit provides a forum, supported by an endowment from the Burlington Industries Foundation, for business professionals to engage with students in a discussion about current issues in the apparel industry and to provide feedback on the CARS students’ senior Capstone projects.
The Capstone course is designed to give CARS students practical experience addressing real-world business challenges by partnering with industry professionals. This year, CARS partnered with Kontoor Brands, a global lifestyle apparel company that owns two legacy denim brands, Wrangler and Lee. Previous Capstones have partnered with companies such as LT Apparel, Unifi, Renfro, and Cotton Incorporated.
In this spring’s capstone class, representatives from Kontoor Brands tasked students with developing an innovative solution to a problem that major retailers are facing today – the effect of weather disruptions on consumers’ buying behaviors. Unpredictable weather patterns are significantly affecting how retailers plan their seasonal inventories and strategize sales initiatives.
Students in both the Apparel Design and Retail and Consumer Studies concentrations were placed in cross-functional teams and tasked with developing their own collection for Wrangler or Lee that presents solutions to this particular issue – outlining their proposed strategies throughout the supply chain, from concept to consumer.
Not only did students have to design new products, ensuring they are authentic to the brand and its target market, but they also needed to develop merchandising, marketing, and retail sales strategies. While many previous case studies emphasized product development or marketing issues, this case study was particularly interesting, as students were examining seasonal shifts in consumer behavior and what that means for retail sales.
During the class, students work throughout the semester conducting comprehensive research on target markets, color and category trends, sourcing considerations, and other factors that would impact their proposed plan’s success within the market. The seniors ultimately turn in a thorough report of their plan for the course, but the Industry Summit gives them the opportunity to showcase their final projects and receive feedback from industry professionals, faculty, and their peers.
The morning of the Industry Summit unfolded with a panel discussion from executives at Kontoor Brands, led by Don Adamic, SVP of Sales and CARS Industry Advisory Board member.
Students learned more about each of the guests’ various roles in the company and their perspective on issues in the apparel industry today. Students also had the opportunity to converse and network with each of the four executives over lunch after the panel discussion. Following lunch, four capstone teams presented poster presentations of their work, and the three other teams presented their projects in 15-minute oral presentations to the panel of judges and their peers.
After the presentations, the judges from Kontoor deliberated and awarded prizes to the following groups:
First Prize in the Case Competition (Lee 365):
Grace Edem
Logal Hollifield
Tyshon Lindsey
Sophie Macon
Jacey Ward
Second Prize in the Case Competition (Naturalist):
Lauren Crook
Jason Frimpong
Jeffrey Hailey
Handson Nguyen
Third Prize in the Case Competition (GenAdapt):
Grace McTigue
Jose Micheo
Gina Pham
Mattie Routh
First Prize in the Poster Competition (EverBlue):
Maraya Byrd
Yaritzy Cardenas
Fatima Garcia
Mimi Kelley
“Participating in the Capstone course and industry summit was an amazing experience. It gave me the chance to dive deep into a topic, build confidence, and interact with industry professionals. Overall, this was a rewarding experience and left me feeling much more prepared to continue my education in my master’s program and to take on whatever comes next in my career,” said Sophie Macon, a member of the winning presentation team.
The CARS department is very proud of all the students who participated in the event and presented their Capstone projects, displaying the culmination of all the skills and knowledge they acquired while in the CARS major at UNCG. Thank you to Kontoor Brands for providing such valuable insights and remaining committed to our student’s success! We are also proud of the partnership that CARS has forged with Kontoor Brands over the years and look forward to great collaborations in the future!
Story written by Lily Kamiab CARS Department
