Kieran Donahue’s (B.F.A. ’93) career has led her to executive leadership roles with Fortune 500 companies in the restaurant and hospitality industries, including Hilton, Marriott and IHOP.
When she looks back on her time as a fashion merchandising major at VCUarts, she says the annual fashion show is the moment that started it all.
Donahue was selected by Karen Videtic (pictured above, left, with Donahue), professor emeritus of fashion merchandising, to serve as director of the fashion show. As a senior, she had to coordinate each of the show’s acts, ensure the models hit their timing marks and support marketing and ticket sales. In short, she oversaw the entire merchandising side of the project.
“That experience shaped a lot of how I lead today,” she says. “It showed me, at an early stage, how many pieces of the puzzle it takes to bring a product to market. It instilled in me that as a leader, you have to bring the strategy, the creativity and the execution together. Building high-performing teams—no matter what business you’re in—requires alignment and coordination.
“Also, as a young woman looking to spread her wings in the fashion industry, it was really helpful to have people that believed in me.”
Like Donahue, countless fashion design and fashion merchandising students have seen the annual fashion show as a pivotal step as they lay the groundwork for their future career paths. The event is a culmination of their academic experience, allowing them to design and create a collection and present to the world their unique vision and aesthetic. For merchandising students, it is an opportunity to showcase their experience in branding, marketing, promotions and event management.
Donahue, along with her husband Joseph Marinucci, are now ensuring fashion students continue to experience this vital, signature event with a $50,000 gift to establish the VCUarts Fashion Show Endowment.
The endowment will provide permanent and sustainable support to offset the cost of the Fashion Show itself, including stage design, production equipment, lighting and technical support, design materials, amenities and more. It will also ensure students continue to have a platform for showcasing their vibrant portfolios and wealth of experience.
“The fashion show resonates with me because it’s a real-life experience that students can parlay into different types of work,” Donahue says. “Whether they’re a merchandising student or a design student, it builds confidence and leadership skills that can stay with them long after graduation.
“My husband and I see this not only as an opportunity to give back, but it’s also aligned with our desire to help students be successful today and tomorrow.”
