Tajae Williams

Dr. Fraser

Writing, Literacy & Discourse

September 30th, 2016

The GAP

Some closets are walk-ins. Some closets are simply just a box. Some closets have

clothes strewn all over the floor. But my closet is unique, as it has no door.

Instead of hiding in my wall, my closet is the central focus of my room. When

people walk into my room, they are immediately drawn to the gaping hole where they

assume a door should be. They often ask, Arent you scared that something is in there

hiding, staring at you all the time? But they just dont understand.

The reason I do not have a door on my closet is not out of convenience, or due to

an unfinished construction job. Rather, the idea of viewing my clothes, watching them

hang neatly in coordinated rows resembling a carefully designed retail display, gives me

joy. The shirts are on the top hangers ordered from smallest to largest and again from

newest to oldest. The pants are organized in this way too. I love looking at the different

fabrics and patterns spilling off the hangers. In fact, my closet is laid out in the exact

same fashion as in the Gap, a store in which I have recently started to work.

I am not the only one of my friends to have an after-school job, but unlike most of

them who dread going to work and do so with the sole purpose of earning a little extra

money to put in their pockets, I love my job. It has allowed me to explore my interests

and has provided me with my first inside glimpse of fashion merchandising at work. I am

lucky that I have had this opportunity in a store that aligns so perfectly with my personal
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merchandising philosophy. Though Gap clothing may seem simple - a modern crew t-

shirt or a pair of jeans - when paired correctly, such as with a classic button up shirt, the

result is completely new and exciting. Retired Gap CEO, Glenn K. Murphy, said that the

founders took a simple idea and turned it into a brand recognized as a cultural icon

throughout the world and changed the face of retail forever. It is inspirational to be part

of such a historic company, one that not just introduces fashion trends to the marketplace,

but one that has truly redefined the sphere of casual clothing for innovative marketing

techniques.

I have been interested in the act of buying and selling goods ever since I was 14. I

have become increasingly thirsty to learn more about it ever since my local mall began to

shut down. I became obsessed with trying to find answers for questions such as why so

many of these stores are beginning to close? What led to the crash of department store

stocks in 2008, and what can be done about this in the future? It is for this reason that I

want to pursue a major not only in management, but also in business. It is important for

me to understand why this happened, and to put that knowledge to use to set future

trends.

My mother has been a huge influence in my life, and she has helped to support

my passion, one she too shares. Although she was never able to pursue her own dream of

breaking into the fashion business, as she instead moved us to America to set up a better

life for me, she has done a remarkable job of teaching me everything she knows. She

would take me on all-day shopping trips when I was little. She would not only help me

find clothes that looked great, but she instilled in me an understanding of what makes

something well made, and how little details such as having a drawstring in the lining will
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allow for garments to be worn year after year. Part of the reason that I want to pursue a

career in the world of fashion management is to allow my mom to see her dream realized

through me.

My interest in fashion management can connect with the journal Management

Fashion by Eric Abrahamson. Eric Abrahamson is a historian scholar. Abrahamson

subjected to write about fashion management to prove the different modes of fashion and

their relationship to a management field:

A management fashion, therefore, is a relatively transitory collective

belief, disseminated by management fashion setters, that a management
technique leads rational management progress. This definition suggests
that management fashions can differ in scope: The collectivity that
believes that a management technique is at the forefront of management
progress can be large or small. Management fashions also can vary in
duration: The belief that a management technique is at the forefront of
management progress can be more or less transitory. (Abrahamson, 257)

Eric Abrahamson believes that the shared believes of fashion management cannot be

stable for too long because progress will no take place. Moreover, for a visual aspect of

fashion management, Abrahamson provides visuals, figures, and surveys that each

explains an in depth theory. For example, The Management-Fashion-Setting Process.

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This figure depicts the creation and process by the suppliers of fashion championing

fashion techniques. The arrow coming out of the right circle shows during creating

fashion, fashion experts had preferences guiding fashion demand and create many

management techniques. Techniques that will salitate this demand are selecting during

the selection stage. The arrow leading out of the left bubble suggests that during the

processing stage, fashion setters articulate rhetorics championing the management

techniques they select. During the dissemination stage, management techniques are used

to launch into the management fashion market.

Based on my knowledge, fashion management can differ in scope in many ways.

Fashion management is not what it means literally. Someone interested in fashion

management can be interested in marketing as well. They can use their marketing skills to

produce an invitation that can outstanding sell a fashion event. One can also help

coordinate and plan events for a fashion company. In my judgment, if one has a degree

anywhere in fashion society, then they can coordinate it with another skill they are asked

to do within the fashion family. This argument can be incomplete by not having the

degree to preform these skills.

One may ask why I choose to major in finance. I chose fashion because this was a

great degree to receive near my interest. I figured I had to know how to manage and

understand how the government runs their money in order to obtain my own and support

a large business. No, I do not want to start my own business, but I would like governor a

large one that does not belong to me. In Eric Abrahamsons journal, Management

Fashion, I am able to understand the broad umbrella. I am able to reference it within my

job now, The Gap, and fairly understand how one administrates this international brand.
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