Open house welcomes community
After months of planning, the TCU Department of Fashion Merchandising will welcome parents, students and community members to an open house Friday in the Fine Arts Building.
The event will showcase student work and talent.
“The primary goal of the Open House is to inform and engage—to provide families with a meaningful, behind-the-scenes look at what their students are learning and creating,” said Dr. Charles Freeman, the department chair of fashion merchandising. “At the same time, the Open House is a soft form of merchandising and brand-building—not for a product line, but for the program itself,”
Students showcase their work
The open house invites all fashion merchandising students to display their work, with 75 to 100 students participating. Participation spans from sophomores to seniors, who will present on areas from advanced buying plans to branding strategies and sustainability reports.
“The open house is an opportunity to see the work and creativity of students across the program,” Melia Arboit, a junior fashion merchandising major, said. “I love it because it highlights the sense of community within the department and gives me a chance to learn from my peers’ ideas, projects and styling choices. It also reminds me of the wide range of career paths that fashion merchandising can lead to.”
The open house has provided many students with new outlooks on their own projects and has given students the opportunity to grow in their specific fields by fostering connections.
“The open house has shaped my experience by giving me a clearer vision of the program and its expectations,” Arboit said. “It’s allowed me to connect with professors and other students and it’s shown me how the skills I’m learning in class can translate into real-world fashion experiences.”
Program mission and impact
This event is more than a showcase of work — it’s a purposeful experience.
The fashion merchandising open house gives students a sense of pride and empowerment, with long-term program momentum and a sense of building a legacy.
“It allows faculty and students to connect meaningfully with parents and families, demonstrating not just what is taught but how students are growing,” Freeman said. “It offers an important moment to reflect on the evolution of the fashion industry and how our program is preparing students to be part of that future—from data-informed retailing to 3D digital design and sustainable sourcing.”
