POMONA>>Earlier this month, resident Francisca Pena and her boyfriend decided they wanted to get married and they wanted to do it within a few weeks.
Days after making the decision Pena began an online search for a place where she could purchase a dress without spending a lot of money. The search took her to Cal Poly Pomona’s apparel merchandising and management department, which offers hundreds of high-end gowns at an affordable price.
“I was really shocked because there were so many dresses,” Pena said. “I didn’t know where to start.”
With the help of Patty Mutz, the department’s administrative support coordinator, and her daughter Annette Mutz, Pena found the right dress.
Pena paid about $135 for a dress and veil.
“It’s like a perfect fit. I don’t have to do alterations,” she said.
Pena purchased a gown by Monique Luo, a designer whose creations are known for the their detailed embroidery and bead work. The dresses retail for thousands of dollars.
Last year, after deciding to retire from the business of designing bridal gowns, Luo interviewed representatives of area universities to help her determine to what institution she would donate her extensive collection of new gowns.
“She fairly quickly decided she wanted to give it to Cal Poly in its entirety,” said Peter Kilduff, professor and chairman of the apparel merchandising and management Department.
The designer liked Cal Poly’s approach to training students, which includes they learn by doing philosophy, Kilduff said.
Luo “is not just a designer but a successful entrepreneur,” Kilduff said, and she saw Cal Poly as a place where her gowns could help raise money for the department and serve as an educational tool for preparing students for the business side of fashion and bridal gowns.
“She saw students could take an existing product collection, market it and sell it,” he said.
Since being turned over to the university, the dresses have been presented at bridal shows, shows for select customers and at a monthly sale that takes place the second Saturday of every month at the apparel merchandising and management, or AMM, department in addition to sessions set up by appointment.
The money from the dresses goes to a department student scholarship fund and to raise money for the creation of a study area located in the AMM department, Kilduff said.
Once the dresses arrived at the university, Patty and Annette Mutz, who has experience as an inventory control specialist, took months to complete an inventory.
What they found were hundreds of dresses packed in garment bags bearing the designer’s name. The gowns, which range in size from 2 to 26, came in hundreds of styles made from silk, satin, chiffon, organza and other materials.
Gowns range from the simple to those decorated with Swarovski crystals, Patty Mutz said.
The gowns are priced from $99 to $199. Veils as well as dresses for flower girls are sold for $25.
“A lot of people believe this is too good to be true,” Patty Mutz said. “They think they can’t be all that great if it’s that cheap.”
Skeptics soon learn there is plenty to choose from and that the merchandise is high end, Annette Mutz said.
Aside from working with gowns, the Mutzs also work with students, helping them develop their skills working with customers.
Jennifer Cello, a fourth-year apparel merchandising and management major, regularly volunteers on projects tied to the gown collection.
Cello, who began volunteering as a way to become more involved in the department, has a strong interest in all types of fashion and often assists with the set-up of the monthly sales, the displays, and distributing fliers advertising the sales and modeling dresses.
She also works with the brides-to be.
“I do a lot of customer service,” Cellos said.
She’s developing her skills working with customers to determine just what kind of dresses they want.
“I’m learning how to talk to people and how to approach them,” she said.
Fullerton resident Stefanie Garcia, a 2009 graduate of the university’s AMM program, walked down the aisle last month in a gown she purchased from the department.
Garcia’s work in the fashion industry frequently brings her to campus and while speaking with Patty Mutz she learned about the bridal gown collection and the prices.
Garcia said the prices listed on a flier appealed to her. Such gowns can be costly and she didn’t want to make a huge investment on the dress.
“I would rather allocate the money toward the house or the honeymoon,” she said.
Garcia and her sister arrived early at one of the monthly sales but she was trying to keep her expectations down.
She tried on three dresses she selected but ended up choosing one Patty Mutz suggested.
“Oh, my God, it’s gorgeous,” Garcia recalled thinking.
After finding a matching veil decorated with just the right amount of crystal beads, Garcia walked away with the two for $350.
“I was really happy,” she said. On the day of the wedding “I got so many compliments. It really fit my personality.”
Garcia said she was happy with her purchase and at the same time was able to support the AMM department.
To set up a wedding gown fitting appointment, email pamutz@csupomona.edu or call Patty Mutz at 909-869-3377.
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