Herkimer College Appoints Fashion Buying & Merchandising Faculty Member

Alesha L. Bowman has been appointed to the position of assistant professor of Fashion Buying & Merchandising at Herkimer College.

Bowman previously owned and operated unLESHed+, a secondhand clothing store for plus-size women in Kansas City, Missouri. She opened the business in 2017, overseeing all aspects of running a small fashion business — customer service, store layout/merchandising, marketing & promotions, buying, etc. — until she closed the business in August of 2022. Leveraging her passion for social media and editorial fashion styling, Alesha gained the attention of producers at The Ellen DeGeneres Show and appeared on an October 2020 episode about small business owners.

Throughout her entrepreneurial career, Bowman received many accolades as a small retail business owner. She was awarded a $10,000 grant from Shutterfly via The Ellen DeGeneres Show, was the Sept 2021, $25,000 grant recipient from the G.I.F.T KC, was nominated as a “Small Business Super Star” of the KC Chamber in 2021 and was a 2020 finalist for “Best Thrift Store” in the “Best of KC” competition.

Before becoming an entrepreneur and small business owner, Alesha spent several years working in multicultural student affairs in higher education.  In her last role, she served as director of multicultural student services at DePauw University in Indiana.

Bowman holds a bachelor’s degree in Fashion Merchandising with a minor in Marketing and a master’s degree in College Student Personnel Administration, both from the University of Central Missouri. She also earned a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion in Higher Education from the University of Central Missouri.

The Fashion Buying & Merchandising A.A.S. degree program at Herkimer College prepares students for careers in the fashion industry, particularly in areas of buying, fashion merchandising, retail and wholesale sales, retail management, and marketing. Many graduates have continued their studies at four-year colleges such as the Fashion Institute of Technology, Buffalo State, SUNY Oswego, Lab Institute of Merchandising College, and Lasell College.