When you meet third-year student Prateeksha Prabhakar, you quickly learn that she bleeds scarlet and gray — and green. Because the only things she’s more enthusiastic about than Ohio State are fashion and sustainability.

And while she knows all about the latest styles and designers, Prateeksha is much more passionate about making the design, materials, packaging and distribution of fashion more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Her road to sustainability began early as a young child growing up at Ohio State. After her mom accepted a job at the university as a post-doctoral researcher in plant biology, Prateeksha’s family moved from India to Columbus. She remembers spending summers in her mom’s office in Kottman Hall or attending Camp Recky through Ohio State’s Recreational Sports.

When Prateeksha wasn’t on campus, she was fashionably dressing her Barbies, styling their hair and spending time creatively sketching garments and clothing.

“I’ve always loved the design and creative aspects of fashion, but as I grew older, I knew it was not the only path I wanted to take,” she said. “By middle school I began researching the industry and started to see some of the downsides of fashion including sustainability issues.”

Among those downsides are the proliferation of non-natural materials, such as polyester, that require more energy for extraction and processing, and increased carbon dioxide emissions and plastic production across the entire fashion industry.

That awareness of a problem in an industry she loved followed Prateeksha to Ohio State.

Green is more than a color

“I knew my passion was fashion but I didn’t want to add to the harmful aspects of it. I shifted my thinking to the business side of the industry and decided to specialize in operations management with a minor in fashion and retail,” said Prateeksha.” “I knew Ohio State had an amazing business school, so coming to Fisher was a natural choice.”

She decided to channel her passion and enrolled with a desire to use her business degree for good.

“The best way I could make an impactful difference in fashion was to combine my creative and technical sides to implement sustainable strategies,” she said. “Through operations and supply chain management I can look at the big picture including raw materials, sourcing options, production, merchandising and deployment and find ways to help the industry employ ecological practices.”

But, when she decided to specialize in operations management, she didn’t know anyone in the field and needed guidance in an industry that’s mostly white and mostly male.

“When I heard about Fisher’s Pathways to Supply Chain Program, I realized it would be a great way to learn more about logistics and help me connect with women in the field who could mentor me,” she said. “I was thrilled when I was chosen as a scholar as a second-year student at Fisher.”

In addition to scholarship support, the program gave her in-depth, first-hand knowledge of supply, manufacturing, distribution and expediting processes as well as the integral role warehouses play in retail. She also gained mentors in Molly Miller, Pathways program manager, who coached her through a variety of supply chain topics, and Kendra Welter, director of reverse supply chain for Nordstrom, who shared lessons on not just sustainability strategies, but also the struggles she has faced as a woman in the industry.

“During her time in the Pathways program, I could see that Prateeksha had a strong foundation of respect, integrity, excellence and hard work, all valuable qualities for the operations and supply chain industry,” said Miller. “This, combined with her tangible passion for fashion will help her continue to embrace opportunities that are true to her values of sustainability and allow her to flourish in the fashion industry.”

Wanting to create more connections in the fashion industry — and on the advice of Alexandra Suer, senior lecturer in fashion and retail studies — Prateeksha entered a national Fashion Scholarship Fund (FSF) competition “The Future is Now” researching the digital age and technology as it relates to fashion. FSF is a fashion-oriented education and workforce development nonprofit helping students succeed in fashion design, merchandising, marketing analytics and business strategy.

Her idea focused on creating a partnership between luxury fashion design company Stella McCartney and The Beagle Button, an app that provides sustainable product alternatives. Her pitch was the creation of a browser plug-in for sustainable shopping that linked the two brands. She was named the 2023 FSF Digital Business Strategy Scholar for her idea.

During a FSF celebration weekend in New York in April, she had unprecedented access to industry influential leaders and companies such as Vogue directors and editors, executives from Nordstrom and merchandising managers from Kohl’s. At an evening gala, she presented her winning case study and networked with industry executives, leaders and fashion legends including Tommy Hilfiger, Martha Stewart, Karlie Kloss, Anna Wintour and Emma Grede.

“Being named a FSF scholar has been the greatest achievement of my life so far,” Prateeksha said. “This was a once-in-a-lifetime, awe-inspiring opportunity to meet and network with some of the top names in fashion and have my sustainability ideas recognized by the industry that I love. This has given me the confidence to continue connecting my creativity and operations interests to improve fashion’s impact on the environment.”

An invaluable internship

Prateeksha spent the summer between her second and third years applying her Pathways and FSF experiences as a Demand and Deployment intern at Victoria’s Secret, where she analyzed past sales data from stores worldwide to forecast future inventory demand, deployed weekly inventory to maximize optimal stock levels and recommended product replenishment strategies.

She also provided analytics and demand forecasting that influenced decisions during cross-functional meetings with company merchants and planners.

While she spent a lot of time crunching numbers, she says she also learned a lot about the importance of human touch when it comes to customer satisfaction.

“I was flown on the company’s private jet to visit two New York stores — 5^th Avenue and the Atlantic Terminal — to meet employees, see the store layout and get a feel for the popular products and sizes,” said Prateeksha. “Talking with store associates gave me the perspective of their customers’ wants and needs. This helped me focus on the personal side of the numbers I was forecasting and let me adjust the orders based on the inventory needed to provide a better customer experience.”

Along with her duties as an intern, Prateeksha continued to grow and push for sustainability in fashion, going so far as to put together a presentation for executives that outlined improved sustainability recommendations for their distribution centers.

“The global brand recognition of Victoria’s Secret, the software I learned, the networking and the overarching information I gained about all aspects of fashion and retail will not only be a great boost to my resume and career, but it has furthered my passion for a career in women’s apparel,” said Prateeksha.

Outside of her internship, Prateeksha continued to explore high-end luxury fashion on her own time, earning an Inside LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) Certificate in July. This immersive learning program gave her the opportunity to delve deep into luxury retail leather goods, high fashion, wines and spirits and high-end jewelry. She focused her specialization on creation, branding, operations and supply chain, giving her more insight into the industry’s investments into research and sustainability.

Growing as a leader

With the start of a new academic year, Prateeksha is back in a familiar spot — on campus. She’s a fitness instructor at RPAC, a resident advisor for students living in Scott House, secretary of the Black Advertising & Strategic Communications Association and a member of the Fisher Impact Day committee. She’s also embracing her new role as the senior vice president of Fisher’s Women in Business, helping guide the student organization and planning their weekly career development meetings.

“Women in Business is like a sisterhood. It’s a place where women can feel supported, express their passions and learn from other women who are leading the way,” said Prateeksha. “I hope to share the insights I gained from my scholarships and internship in retail, fashion and operations with the other women who are looking at the same path.”

She’s also looking forward to applying much of that same knowledge to her academic courses.

“This year, I’m looking forward to my specialization classes including Projects in Sustainable Supply Chains and Fashion Forecasting and building upon what I’ve already learned on-the-job,” she said.

“I am grateful to FSF, LVMH, Victoria’s Secret and all the fashion industry experts I met who have made my experiences in fashion so enriching. They have motivated me to keep pushing myself in my academic and professional careers and I look forward to applying this knowledge to the continued sustainable growth and innovation in the luxury retail space!”