Business Student Completes Vogue Intensive Summer Program in London

By Morgan Black

Annabella Shima, a marketing and entrepreneurship major with a professional sales concentration, has a career in international business on her radar. During summer 2021, the Tampa, Florida, native completed the Vogue Intensive Summer Program at the Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design in London.

Annabella Shima

The four-week program provides a comprehensive introduction to the fashion industry and allows global participants the chance to connect with professionals who could provide internships, full or part-time work down the road.

During the program, Shima worked on various editorial projects based on Condé Nast’s fashion publications, specifically British Vogue. The bulk of her time was spent creating a proposal for the October 2021 issue of the magazine including generating editorial concepts and producing visuals for multiple photoshoots, as well as designing her own Vogue cover.

Complementary to this hands-on experience, she engaged in workshops and events with professionals, specifically those with expertise in journalism, creative direction, trend forecasting, magazine styling, marketing and social media.

“It was amazing to make connections with a wide range of international industry experts and Condé Nast professionals, who provided great career advice while allowing me to get my foot in the door of the fashion industry,” Shima said.

Shima is passionate about consumer behavior and trend research, which she plans to incorporate into a future career in luxury brand marketing. She feels her Samford business education pairs well with the creative aesthetics of high fashion and believes that understanding how a business runs has been and will be very valuable to her success in the industry.

“Through my business communication and sales classes, I feel like I had really good sales and presentation skills during the course of the program,” she said. “This experience was such a good starting point for me to really break into the industry and to understand all the different opportunities that exist.”

Her experience this summer was not her first exposure to international business. During the summer of 2019, she took Strategic Decision-making in U.K. Organizations, a class developed and led by Barbara Cartledge, senior assistant dean for Brock School of Business, to expose students to a variety of business types in the U.K. Shima returned to London in the fall where she lived in Samford’s Daniel House and interned at Grove Communication, a boutique public relations agency which specializes in fashion accessories and luxury goods.

Approximately 97% of business students participate in at least one internship before they graduate from Samford’s Brock School of Business. Samford is nationally recognized for its internship program and other high-impact practices that contribute to student learning and engagement. ◗