Fair Trade Bloomington, a nonprofit organization created by Indiana University's Students in Free Enterprise organization (SIFE), will host its fifth annual International Fair Trade Market Thursday, Dec. 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Frangipani Room at the Indiana Memorial Union. On sale will be artisan-made goods from more than 30 countries, including handmade jewelry, holiday ornaments, baskets, carvings, tableware, textiles and toys.

Kate Rowold, curator of The Sage Collection at Indiana University is co-curator (with Kelly Richardson) of "Child's Play: Aesthetics, Gender, and Children's Clothing," a new exhibition at the Monroe County History Center opening Oct. 17. The exhibition explores the dynamics of aesthetics, gender and fashion using artifacts from The Sage Collection with related objects from the Monroe County History Center.

Top executives from retailers including the Gap, Nike and Target will take part in Indiana University's second-annual Retail and Design Forum Sept. 22 at the Indiana Memorial Union in Bloomington, starting at 9:45 a.m. The event is free and open to the public and is presented by the Department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design's Retail Studies Organization.

Indiana University Bloomington lecturer Mary Embry is helping to oversee the opening of a new, not-for-profit fair trade store, Global Gifts, in collaboration with the Indianapolis-based Global Gifts stores and Fair Trade Bloomington. The store is expected to open Aug. 25 at 122 N. Walnut St., with grand opening celebrations scheduled for Sept. 11-12 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The grand opening will include in-store activities, live music, free fair trade coffee and chocolate samples and a ten percent discount on all merchandise.

Indiana University's campus chapter of Students in Free Enterprise was recently named a national finalist in entrepreneurship for its Fair Trade Bloomington project at the SIFE USA Regional Competition March 27 in Rogers, Ark. IU's Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) group operates through the Department of Apparel Merchandising and Design (AMID) in the Retail Design and Merchandising Group, but is open to students from any discipline. AMID is a division of IU's College of Arts and Sciences.

The Indiana University Department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design will host United Kingdom fashion designer Julian Roberts, the department's 2009 Bill Blass Fashion Design Seminar Series speaker, this weekend (Friday, April 3-Saturday, April 4) at IU Bloomington.

Holiday shopping in Bloomington just got a little greener. While Indiana University's Department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design prepares for its fourth annual holiday sale (Dec. 4-5 at the Indiana Memorial Union), apparel merchandising lecturer Mary Embry is also helping to organize the city of Bloomington's first "green" holiday festival, scheduled for Dec. 6 at Allison-Jukebox Community Center.

Holiday shopping in Bloomington just got a little greener. While Indiana University's Department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design prepares for its fourth annual holiday sale (Dec. 4-5 at the Indiana Memorial Union), apparel merchandising lecturer Mary Embry is also helping to organize the city of Bloomington's first "green" holiday festival, scheduled for Dec. 6 at Allison-Jukebox Community Center.

The Indiana University Bloomington SIFE (Students In Free Enterprise) team has won the SIFE USA Regional Championship and advances to the next competition in Chicago in May. This is the Bloomington chapter's third consecutive regional championship.

Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), an Indiana University student group advocating service-based learning, has partnered its Fair Trade Bloomington project with several Bloomington-area non-profit organizations to present two upcoming events during March's Women's History Month.

For the third consecutive year, IU Bloomington students from the Department of Apparel Merchandising & Interior Design's Retail Studies Group were honored in New York at the YMA Scholarship Fund's Geoffrey Beene Scholarship Dinner. The IU honorees were among 91 students from universities nationwide receiving $5,000 scholarships at the Jan. 9 event.

As a fashion accessory, a status symbol and a heat relief device, hand-held fans have played a practical and ornamental role in fashion design and culture for thousands of years. To celebrate the historic and artistic foundations of hand-held fans, the Sage Collection, which is part of the Indiana University Department of Apparel Merchandising & Interior Design, is staging an exhibit of more than 90 of its 300 archived fans.

The Indiana University Bloomington SIFE (Students In Free Enterprise) team won high honors after participating in the SIFE USA National Exposition, May 6-8, in Dallas, Texas. After presenting a report of its year-long community outreach projects, the IUB SIFE team was awarded second runner-up in the "4-Year Division Opening Round Competition."

Three Indiana University Bloomington students were Indiana State Chapter award recipients in the 2007 National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) Student Design Competition. The students, all of whom recently completed their junior year in the IU Department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design (AMID), were recently honored at an awards ceremony in Indianapolis.

Rick Bomberger, a visiting lecturer in the Indiana University Department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design (AMID), has been appointed to the board of directors of Dimensions Furniture, a Carmel, Ind.-based furniture supplier.

The Indiana University-Bloomington SIFE (Students In Free Enterprise) team has won the SIFE USA Regional Championship. The IUB SIFE team won the regional championship after presenting a report of their yearlong community outreach projects to a panel of business leaders. With this victory, the team now advances to the national SIFE competition, which will be held at the SIFE USA National Exposition, May 6-8 in Dallas.

Joanne B. Eicher, emeritus regents' professor at the University of Minnesota Department of Design, Housing and Apparel and one of the world's foremost authorities on dress and culture, will visit the Indiana University Bloomington campus for a free, public presentation titled "My Life with the F Word" on April 9, 2007.

Indiana University's Department of Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design (AMID) announced the appointment of four faculty members from the Indiana University Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts as adjunct faculty in the department's design studies program. These adjunct appointments are among the first steps in creating stronger ties within the Bloomington campus' design disciplines.

Aylwin B. Lewis, chief executive officer and president of Sears Holdings Corporation, will visit the Indiana University Bloomington campus for a free, public presentation on March 1.

Eight Indiana University Apparel Merchandising students were recently honored in New York at the YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund AMY Awards, where IU's Apparel Merchandising program was also recognized as among the YMA's Top Scholar Schools.