Putting the FIT in outfit, one Verona High School 2024 senior is transforming her passion for style into a base for a future powerhouse career. Violet Liaukus will be weaving together the threads of creativity and the practicality of business at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, better known as FIT.
Creativity has always been a huge part of her life, whether that be through theater or forms of 3D art. Liaukus curated costumes, and/or ran the costumes crew for many of the school plays and musicals at VHS including “Romeo and Juliet,” “Hello Dolly,” “A Murder is Announced” and “Mean Girls.” When asked about her participation she responded fondly, “I did it to work towards producing things that I love with people that I love, and I got to find a niche placement in it that worked perfectly for me.”
Additionally, throughout high school she was able to take a few artistic classes, like Ceramics & Mosaics. Despite this not being her exact focus, she said that “that medium drove me more towards tangible art incorporated in fashion.”
Fashion is a highly competitive industry, but this did not stop Liaukus from finding her way in. The Fashion Institute of Technology is a renowned school in the industry, and Liaukus has chosen one of its most notable programs, Fashion Business Management (FBM). Although she’s designed some clothing herself, she was looking to major in something more practical. “Business and public relations are more technical,” she says, “and paths that I feel I can grasp and invest in that will actually leave me with a fulfilling career in the future.” Although her career is years of studies away, Liaukus was able to begin working on it as an intern this spring
As a senior at VHS, Liaukus could work at an internship related to her future occupation for the final four weeks of the school year through the Capstone program. She’s a public relations coordinator at Arlinda McIntosh’s company Sofistafunk The Skirt Co. “Being put into an environment that already expects me to understand and drive parts of a working company has pushed me to work hard from the jump,” she says. “It was only a coincidence that I was connected with Arlinda but it has probably been the best coincidence that has ever happened to me.”
In her time at the company, Liaukus has been doing a large number of promotional social media posts. In just her first week, she did an ad campaign on Pinterest. In addition, she has created schedules, itineraries and ideas for events that Sofistafunk will be putting on.
“I’ve been given so much creative liberty to incorporate my own opinion and style into the work of a larger company,” she says, “as well as accompany my boss at events and projects behind the scenes that have shown me what large productions look like from the perspective of the people working on them.” Liaukus has been able to see the world of fashion through the lens of those working in business and public relations.
Now that Liaukus has received an introduction into this world of fashion, she can focus on her major at FIT, which is reviewed very highly, through its curriculum, staff and opportunities. “Almost all of the teachers in the program are also people actually working in the industry, so I am really excited to be able to learn about the industry from people who interact with it every day, she says” “I want to pursue a career that I feel is fulfilling to me in every aspect of my life.”
“What’s Next” is a series of profiles about what members of each Verona High School class do after graduation. MyVeronaNJ has been publishing the series since 2010 and you can read all of them here. Megan McGrath will graduate Verona High School with the Class of 2024. This story is part of her participation in VHS’ Senior Capstone project.
