Jennifer Schildberg '11

About Jennifer

Hometown:
Greenfield, Iowa

University Partner:
Iowa State University

Degree:
Apparel Merchandising and Design: Creative and Technical Design

Grant Partner:
Vineyard Vines

Senior Mentor:
Dave Cleary, Design Director

"Steamboat fostered intellectual and emotional growth within each of the Scholars that brought us closer together. This summer has opened my eyes to a world full of more possibilities than I could have ever imagined and has given me confidence to conquer any obstacles that I may face on the path to achieving my goals and dreams."

Scholar Background

Always sketching and doodling when Jennifer was younger, she fell in love with the freedom and limitless bounds of the world that is creativity. By the time she entered her junior year of high school Jennifer had paired creativity with the functionality of apparel and decided upon fashion design as a desired major in college. Growing up in southwest Iowa, she immediately gravitated toward Iowa State University both for its location and for its esteemed fashion program, and has enjoyed it ever since. In her three years studying apparel design, Jennifer has been involved in the Common Threads learning community, Iowa State University's Project Runway. She studied abroad at the Paris American Academy in Paris, France. Studying in Paris provided her with many great opportunities such as participation behind the scenes in fashion week shows and the chance to learn from professors who were also working for well-known Parisian designers.

Internship Description

Jennifer Schildberg, a rising senior in apparel design at Iowa State University, spent her summer interning at Vineyard Vines, an apparel company based in Stamford, CT that caters to the preppy lifestyle while having a “whale of a time” in the process. Under the direction of Dave Cleary, head of design, Jennifer assisted the men’s and women’s teams in the design and creation of concept, trim, and design boards for presentation to co-founders Shep and Ian Murray and heads of design and merchandising teams. She was in charge of color matching and approving or making comments on lab dips received from color factories for spring and summer 2012 designs. On the technical side, Jennifer was taught how to measure knit and woven garments and to check them against company specifications, keeping tolerance levels in mind. As design for fall 2012 kicked off, Jennifer aided the men’s knitwear designer in the creation of styles, stripe patterns, and colorways. Her designs are under consideration for production in fall 2012.