About Hannah Laurits
Hannah Laurits is a master’s student in the Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies (FASH) at the University of Delaware (UD). She also received her B.S. from UD & FASH with a double major in apparel design and fashion merchandising and management.
Hannah is passionate about adaptive clothing and making the fashion industry more inclusive and sustainable. She has participated in several related research projects, including working at UD’s Health and Innovation Lab and designing adaptive clothing for children with Down syndrome. Hannah’s master’s thesis explores U.S. retailers’ merchandising and business strategies for adaptive clothing. As a graduate instructor, Hannah teaches FASH133 (Foundations for Fashion Innovation), an important foundational course for FASH freshmen. Hannah is the recipient of the 2023 International Textiles and Apparel Association (ITAA) Sara Douglas Fellowship in recognition of her academic excellence and accomplishments.
During the summer of 2023, Hannah had the exceptional opportunity to work as a sourcing intern for Haddad Brands in New York City. Below, she shared her reflections on this incredible internship experience.
Question: What does a typical day look like during your sourcing internship with Haddad?
Hannah: Each day, I would enter Haddad’s beautiful Manhattan office and make my way up to my desk on the 10th floor, which was home to the design and sourcing departments. I had the opportunity to sit next to my mentor and assist her in her day-to-day tasks as a Fabric and Trim Research &Development (R&D) Manager. This often consisted of maintaining fabric/trim development digital and physical libraries, creating new fabric swatch headers, entering fabric/trim data in PLM, partnering with Product Development to establish fabric and trim codes for PLM, and analyzing new fabric developments. I also assisted in collaborating and developing fabrications, finishes, and trims with our supply chain by communicating feedback via internal emails.
One thing that I really enjoyed was that each day consisted of working cross-functionally with the different teams. I helped prepare for and sit in on weekly fabric/trim development status meetings with the various Design teams where fabric/trim developments for the upcoming seasons were discussed and designers would make new fabric requests for their added styles. I also sat in on bi-weekly fabric/trim development status meetings with the Product Approval team to ensure the fabric samples from mills were up to standard for development. Here, I was able to help weigh in on fabrics and compare them to our standards to determine if they met our requirements or if they needed to be changed and how. Additionally, some days included meetings with various suppliers to discuss innovations in fiber, fabric, finish, and trim.
Being part of an internship that enabled me to perform meaningful work from day one, provided countless opportunities for personal growth, and exposed me to working with some of the most iconic global brands (e.g., Levi’s) was a truly fulfilling experience.
Question: Any major projects did you work on during your internship? What did you learn from the experiences?
Hannah:Each Haddad Legacy Intern was assigned and worked on a project for their department based upon a real business need. Based on my educational background and my passion for sustainability, my team outlined a project that would best fit. This involved researching innovative sustainable solutions and sourcing practices to further their sustainability efforts.
My research was not only conducted from outside sources but from internal ones as well. I felt an immense amount of support from all of the individuals who helped me accomplish this project and was excited to learn that they also are just as excited about sustainable practices as I am. At the end of the internship, each intern had the chance to present to senior management our individual projects. This experience taught me how to create a visually compelling presentation and relay large amounts of data concisely and effectively.
Question: What insights did you learn about the fashion apparel industry from the internship? For example, the key issues the industry cares about or the challenges it faces.
Hannah:From my internship experience, I was able to see firsthand key topics important to the fashion/apparel industry; specifically, two areas caught my attention.
First, sustainability and social responsibility. Consumers and investors are seeking more sustainable products and better practices from the brands they love. Considering this, sustainability-forward brands are focused on maintaining their high values regarding these areas and keeping their practices aligned with them.
Second, the fashion industry is constantly seeking innovative technology solutions, including in the sourcing and supply chain areas. Technology is evolving faster than ever, helping create efficient solutions to drive the fashion industry forward. Technologies such as 3D printing, AI, laser cutting, and more are being used to improve the industry in various ways such as trend forecasting, supply chain, and consumer experience, just to name a few. Even regarding sustainability, many fashion brands are investing in or actively exploring new technology solutions to help them develop a more sustainable and ethical supply chain and improve sourcing transparency, traceability, and accountability.
Question: How do your learning experiences at FASH help with your internship? Any specific knowledge or skill sets do you find most critical?
Hannah:FASH had a great influence on my decision to pursue a sourcing internship with Haddad Brands. It was through the UD & FASH department’s Fashion Career Meetup that I was able to connect with the amazing HR team at Haddad Brands and learn more about the company.
Specifically, it was FASH455 (Global Apparel Trade and Sourcing) that piqued my interest in the world of sourcing and provided foundational knowledge for my internship. Working in fabric research and development, on a daily basis, I referred back to key concepts from FASH215 (Fundamentals of Textiles I) and FASH220 (Fundamentals of Textiles II) on fiber, yarn, fabric, structures, color, and finish. Additionally, the FASH Social Responsibility and Sustainability certificate courses played a unique role in my experience, helping me bring a sustainability forward perspective into my internship and providing a solid background to further build upon for my internship project.
Furthermore, the FASH department at UD excels at providing students with extensive foundational fashion industry knowledge. Not only is the course curriculum excellent, but so is the faculty who goes above and beyond to help foster student’s education and build critical professional skills.
Question: What’s your plan after graduation?
Hannah:I am currently working on wrapping up my master’s program and am on track to graduate in May 2024. I am seeking a full-time role that allows me to have a hand in developing products that have a positive impact on people and the planet. Potential roles include sustainability, social compliance, sourcing, product development, and product line management related to fashion apparel products. While I am originally from Delaware, I am hoping to relocate to a city on the East Coast such as NYC, Philadelphia, or Baltimore. However, I am open to considering job opportunities and locations beyond this scope. As my graduation approaches, I am eager to begin my career in the fashion apparel industry.
Meanwhile, I am actively seeking winter and spring internship opportunities in the greater Philadelphia area or remote positions to enhance my professional development.
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FASH455 Global Apparel & Textile Trade and Sourcing 
Hannah’s internship at Haddad brands highlights the application of learning in the fashion industry. Her experience shows the importance of collaboration across different departments, showcasing the interconnectedness of fashion supply chains. In her individual project, the focus on sustainability aligns with the industry’s growing focus on environmentally friendly practices. I admire Hannah’s aspiration to contribute positive impacts on the fashion industry.
Knowing about Hannah’s passion for adaptive design and fashion, it is wonderful that she got to intern for Haddad Brands as they are a leading global children’s wear company. Children’s clothing and design is all about adaptability and have to go through a lot more regulation, inspection, and testing because they have to keep the safety and development of children in mind constantly. For example, how hoodies can’t be designed with the drawstring because it is a choking hazard, or the time of weave and blend of fabrics that might cause rashes, irritation, or suffocation to a child . As a sourcing intern Hannah was able to gain knowledge on sourcing trims and fabric in children’s wear and how Haddad is innovating for the future.
It is great to hear that what we learn in our classes can be directly applied to industry work and that our professors and board of advisors keep us up to date on what is happening in the industry to keep us prepared.
I found Hannah’s internship to be very insightful. It was interesting learning about how she felt her learning experiences at UD (fashion department) helped with her internship. It is refreshing to hear that she obtained her internship through the UD & FASH department’s Fashion Career Meetup. This proves that utilizing UD’s resources in order to make valuable connections is vital and can be very beneficial in the long run when trying to gain important experiences for your career.
I really liked how Hannah mentioned how she learned a lot in her internships about different innovative solutions and sustainable sourcing practices in supply chains. I feel like this is very important for fashion students getting involved in the industry because of the recent debates that we discussed in class about where fast fashion companies are sourcing and how they are trying to become more sustainable. There is the debate of the U.S relying less on their imports with China and instead, trying to work with countries in the Western Hemisphere. Her explanation of how technology is evolving relates back to how the EU textile and apparel industry is advanced in 3D printing and their carbonizing machines, as well as their complete supply chains with paying their workers fairly. I am interested to read more information and updates in the future on what other UD graduates are learning about in their internships on global sourcing in the textile and apparel industry.