FIT Alumni Update, Home Products Chapter  
News as of  October1, 2005

Kristine Lazaras, Class of 2002,  was promoted at WestPoint Home  in the Ralph Lauren Home division to an Associate Product Manager. Congrats to Kristine! WestPoint Home has been Kristine’s first job out of college where she has learned a lot about home product development while working on the Ralph Lauren lifestyle brand.

Gwendolyn Houston, Class of 2002, recently moved back to NYC from Texas. She will continue to be employed at the Container Store which is rated as one of the best companies to work for in the United States. Gwendolyn also spoke how much she enjoyed her trip this past January at the Maison & Objet show in Paris.

Candice Eng, Class of 1998, mentioned that she has finally found her dream job-working in textile development at Donghia. She is working directly with the owner/president of Donghia on developing high end upholstery, casement,  wall covering, and trim.

LeeAnn Brzozowski, Class of 2002, landed a job as showroom director at Cloudagh design. 

Jennifer Munich, Class of 2001, is interning with LeeAnn  while she is freelancing, taking a sourcing class, and enrolled in a sewing class at FIT. She cannot seem to keep away from FIT.

Isabel Cook, Class of 2001, is working as a Design Assistant at Revman. She does a lot of traveling to China and Mexico. 

Julia Gantman, Class of 2005, is freelancing with Isabel Cook at Revman.  Julie could not have picked a better person to learn all about product development-Isabel Cook. 

Gina Leo, Class of 2001, has recently landed a job at Spegiel in their buying department for home textiles.

Melissa Galit, Class of 1995, is working as a Market Specialist at the Donegar group.

Jack Pitilon, Class of 2002, is busy running his tee-shirt business,
www.Tgotees.com. Best of luck.

Christian Norsig, Class of 2003, is working hard on her e-commerce business-www.Etabletop.com. Her daughter is already 2 years old.

Jennifer DiFrancisco, Class of 2000, was unable to make it to the networking event since she was traveling to China on business. She has been at Revman for 5 years now working now as a Design Manager.

Jennifer Castoldi, Class of 2001, is busy running her international trend forecasting company. She will be back in the US right in time for October market. Check out her website at www.trendeaseintl.com.

Tim O’Rourke, Class of 1998, is running a home store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn called Boomerang Home.

Despina Vasilopoulos, Class of 2000, has been a member of the FIT alumni association since she graduated which made her an automatic member of the Home Products chapter. She is employed at Lillian Vernon as an Associate buyer.

David Miles, Class of 2001, is teaching classes at FIT on Home merchandising while working full time at Kravet.

David Miles, Michael Puleo, Jessica Bohonyi, Aya Ito, Isabel Cook, Gina Leo, and Jennifer Munich meet for monthly Home Products dinners. If anyone would like to join us at our next one, please let us know! Email JenniferMunich@tmail.com.

Announcements /Engagements/Weddings /Births

Congratulations to all.

WEDDINGS

Rachel Levine, Class of 1998 Lena Johannson,  Class of 2004.

Stephanie Egger, Class of 2003 ( Is also moving to Boston and will continue to work at Artistic Tile in their Boston location).

 BABIES

Monica Mertens, Class of 2001, is expected a baby any day now. Congrats!

Luna Zheng-Du, Class of 2003, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl a few months ago.

Simran Lal '02 emails:
Her company Good Earth just opened a 20,000 Sq Ft store in Bombay, India. It is high end furniture and home accessories. Another store in Delhi is planned for opening by the end of the year. Simran is Director of Retail and Marketing. You can see more about her store a the website: www.goodearthindia

Jennifer DiFrancisco '00

At the Salute to Christine Pratt in May, Jennifer recalled her most memorable experience with Chris. Here is the photo op that recorded the event for all to share.