Aastha Agarwal makes FASH fab
“When I try my best to get the most from my SCAD experience, I feel really happy,” says Aastha Agarwal (M.F.A., luxury and fashion management). The master’s candidate is a SCADpro project manager, a SCAD FASH docent and content creator, a Fernbank-friendly nature-lover, and part of a trend of talented students from NIFT Mumbai choosing to earn their graduate degrees at SCAD. A native of Dahanu Road, India, Agarwal is committed to cultivating leadership skills to affect global change. Don’t let her kaleidoscopic coiffure fool you — Aastha means business.
Aastha Agarwal:
I applied to SCAD because I wanted to go to the best place in the world to study the business of fashion. I received a scholarship and decided to pursue my dreams in Atlanta, a city of the endless opportunities. A year and a half later, two of my best friends from NIFT, Aarohi and Sneha, have joined me at SCAD Atlanta. It’s nice to see students from Mumbai finding a home here.
I want to build my career within the social responsibility sphere, either as a sustainability expert or being a part of a brand’s corporate social responsibility team. Studying luxury and fashion management at SCAD is equipping me with the tools and resources I need to be a part of the companies that can actually bring about this change.
Last quarter I was part of a SCADpro project with Fox Sports. We had a brilliant team, students from three different countries and five different majors, representing from Mumbai to Mexico to Myrtle Beach. We worked together to create graphic inserts for major league baseball and college basketball for national TV. This quarter I’m project manager on another SCADpro project with Deloitte Digital. As a student, SCADpro is an excellent way to make initial contact with a company, show them what you can do as an individual and as part of a team, and create the preconditions for employment.
One of my favorite SCAD professors is [creative business leadership] professor Kobus. My first class with him was Financial Reporting and Analysis [BUSI 710], part of my LXFM studies. For most of the international students in the graduate program it was our first quarter at SCAD, and we were all a little scared, and not just from the math! By week seven, we were all trading virtual stock and competing in a game based in accounting, learning and laughing together. The last day, professor Kobus brought in kimchi that he and his wife made from cabbage in their garden. It was so good! SCAD professors really care.
I currently work was a docent at the SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film. I absolutely love working at SCAD FASH because I get to be a part of history. I wish everyone could experience the magnificence that is “Ruth E. Carter: Afrofuturism in Costume Design.”
I created a presentation for the museum that highlights the different tribes who inspired the costumes featured in Black Panther, alongside details about the costumes from other films including Roots, Amistad, Do The Right Thing, and Selma. It’s incredible to watch the twinkle in the eyes of the visitors as soon as they step into the exhibition. If I could, I’d be here everyday, especially to point people in the direction of my favorite piece in the exhibit — the aquarium shoes with the goldfish in them, from I’m Gonna Git You Sucka!
Follow Aastha on IG.
Written by Peter Relic.
