Three University of Delaware students were recently awarded scholarships by the Fashion Scholarship Fund (FSF), the nation’s most prestigious fashion education-oriented nonprofit. 

Seniors Megan Alleborn and Gabriella Gooden and junior Mackenzie Speed were among 160 winners from 671 submissions to the 2025 FSF case study competition. 

Students chose from four different areas of the fashion industry — design and product development, marketing analytics, merchandising and business strategy — for their case study projects. The theme for all of the categories was the intersection of digital technology and fashion. Students took an existing company and a technology component such as artificial intelligence or augmented reality, and created a plan for how the company could use that technology. Alleborn focused on marketing while Gooden and Speed did merchandising. 

The University has had 64 winners since becoming a FSF member school in 2010, according to Brenda Shaffer, director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies. UD students have collectively received more than $370,000 in scholarships.

“It is a testament to the caliber of our students, their drive and motivation to participate in opportunities and excel in doing so,” Shaffer said. ”These students spent many hours working on their case study, revising and accepting critiques of their work to ensure a quality project.”

Student scholars

Alleborn, a fashion merchandising and management major with a minor in business administration, created a marketing initiative for the makeup company Merit Beauty. Her plan focused on elevating Merit’s market position, broadening its audience to attract male, Millennial and Gen Z customers, and introducing an innovative AI-powered personalized skincare tool. 

Alleborn, who is from Pittstown, New Jersey, received a FSF Scholarship last year, but said the prompt for this year “was a bit more challenging since AI and this type of technology are relatively new.” After graduation she would like to find a digital marketing or public relations role that will allow her to focus on sustainability and AI technology.

Students entering the merchandising category were prompted to explore how existing brands and retailers can use big data and digital technology to advance their product assortment goals. 

Gooden, who is from Montgomery, New York, is a communication major with minors in fashion management and sustainable apparel and textile innovation. She received the Neiman Marcus Group award for her plan for retailer Uniqlo that incorporates a 3D technology called Unmade, which allows customers to customize and personalize their clothes, “carrying them from the design process of color, fabric and pattern options to how it fits them.” She said the process would cut down on the production of pieces that are unwanted, adding to the industry’s goal to become more sustainable. 

“I concluded fashion is something that can be personable for a consumer with their own style while also being responsible as an industry for how much waste it produces,” she said. Neiman Marcus award recipients are recognized for their talent and commitment to advancing sustainable and ethical fashion. 

Speed, who is double majoring in fashion merchandising and management, and theatre studies, used AI to create images for her case study. It focused on fitness giant Nike and how it could use AI to analyze data from fitness apps, social media and shopping habits to predict workout trends in different parts of the country and then make shoes to fit that area.  

“Nike uses AI in forecasting but my idea is something they are not currently doing,” Speed, who is from Magnolia, Delaware, said. “This would help them design workout shoes tailored to specific regions like HIIT-focused shoes for New York or yoga-friendly designs for California, while also keeping the right products in stock. By staying on top of trends, Nike creates personalized experiences for customers, builds stronger connections and stays ahead of the fitness industry.”

Gaining a mentor

Gooden and Speed each received the Virgil Abloh Post-Modern scholarship, which provides funding and mentoring for students of Black, African American or African descent. Abloh, whose mother was born in Ghana, was a fashion designer and artistic director of menswear at the luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton. Both students will meet their mentors next month. 

Alumna Sarah Carlson said her FSF mentor’s “fresh perspective and transparency really guided my focus as I was figuring out what I wanted to do within fashion.” Carlson, who graduated in 2022, is an assistant buyer with the luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman. A two-time scholarship recipient, and one of the top eight finalists in 2020, she serves as a mentor for new FSF scholars. 

“As a student, the case studies challenged me in a positive way,” she said. “Months of hard work required focus and sacrifices, but paid off, as the experience led to a lifelong support system and opportunities in my dream field. I can't thank the FSF enough for what they do!” 

About the Fashion Scholarship Fund

Founded in 1937, the Fashion Scholarship Fund awards more than $1.5 million in scholarships each year to support students interested in all sectors of the fashion industry, including design, merchandising, marketing and business strategy. The FSF also provides internship and career opportunities, mentoring, networking and access to the industry’s top leaders and companies.