The Columbus Fashion Alliance is a non-profit organization based in Columbus, Ohio that focuses on cultivating talent within the fashion industry. Every year they host the Future of Fashion program which is a summer internship where a cohort of high school students come together to build a limited edition brand. They spend eight weeks designing, marketing, and producing their clothing brand, culminating in a three-day experiential pop-up where they showcase their work. To give back to the community, the clothing is free of charge. Diego Rapp, a production intern from the 2025 cohort Infrared, shares what he has learned through this opportunity.
How would you describe the Future of Fashion program to someone who knows nothing about it?
FOF is a program designed to help high school students who are interested in the arts or fashion.
What made you apply for the internship in the first place?
I would like to study fashion merchandising and design in college.
Did you have prior experience in fashion before joining?
I work as a Fit Model at Abercrombie, I’ve volunteered at Fashion Week Columbus, and I’m in various fashion clubs.
What kind of projects did you get to work on?
I handled the manufacturing of the clothes, blanks used, quality of prints, logistics, and budgeting.
Can you walk me through a typical day as an intern?
Come in early for breakfast, team meeting, speaker or team project, lunch, then work with designated work group.
What skills did you learn or improve the most during the program?
Improved brand building skills, product development, budgeting, garment manufacturing, and fashion merchandising.
What was the most exciting moment of the internship?
The first day of the pop up finally seeing everything we worked on come together.
Did you face any challenges, and how did you overcome them?
Was frustrated with the way some of the sweaters came out, we washed them on high heat.
What was it like working with industry professionals?
It was very exciting to see the people who worked on projects that I’ve followed and seen on social media.
What did you take away from this internship that you’ll use in the future?
I think my taste in fashion improved and learning how to build a brand helped.
Did this experience change your career goals at all?
No, I think it’s made me see my career goals as more tangible.
How did it feel seeing the final collection come together?
It was a bittersweet moment, super proud to see all of our hard work come together and accumulate in our clothes but sad to say goodbye to our brand and co-workers.