Greetings Fashionistas and Fashionistos! My name is Austin Crumpler and I am a senior Fashion Merchandising student at Kent State University, currently living in the suburbs of northeastern Ohio. Outside of the academic program, I am also the KSU Fashion School Store’s assistant merchandiser and key holder, which involves: managing social media marketing and communications, executing visual merchandising and training sales associates on daily operations and policies. This summer, I also worked as a visual merchandising intern at Arhaus Furniture’s corporate flagship store in Lyndhurst Ohio, creating exciting displays with the visual team and helping to maximize profit for the business!
Discovering my future career has truly been an eye-opening journey. I started my college career as a Language Arts Special Education major, wanting to help special-needs children improve their reading, writing and critical thinking skills. By sophomore year, I discovered that although this major was most likely going to guarantee a job, I wanted to transition to a more business-oriented program. Realizing that I’ve always held a passion for style and fashion, I combined the two together and enrolled in KSU’s fashion merchandising program, and this was a decision that I will never regret!
I am psyched about this opportunity to write for CollegeFashionista as a Style Guru, mainly because of my passion for writing, but also due to my desire to catch trends and innovations occurring right on my college campus. I have developed a fascination with the “diffusion of innovation curve:” how trends move from society’s top innovators to the majority of the population. From this internship, I hope to enhance my analytic abilities by exposing myself to Kent State’s top trendsetters and discovering how they influence the style of the early adopters, early majority, majority and late majority of college students on the campus!
Although I am passionate about the fashion industry, I would not describe my style as “trendy” or “cutting edge.” I appreciate timeless preppy styles with neutral color schemes, classic patterns and free-flowing silhouettes. I am a true believer that style can be simple and effortless, and that you can look great without draining your bank account on designer clothing. I often find myself walking to class in simple, crisp attire such as this loose-fitting poplin striped button-down shirt from American Eagle Outfitters, a pair of dark, slim-fit jeans rolled up at the cuffs, gray denim boat shoes by Tommy Hilfiger and a black leather-band watch by GUESS. Although I am very comfortable with my current style, I am excited to learn more from the Fashionistas and Fashionistos on my campus and implement whatever knowledge I gain into my wardrobe!
