2025 Commencement Speaker
Our keynote speaker will be Luisa Herrera-Garcia ’88, Chief Officer, Development & Production Sourcing at Alexander Wang. In addition to being a proud LIM alum, Luisa serves on our Industry Advisory Board where her contributions have included mentoring students, facilitating internships, and providing valuable input that has helped the College evolve and grow. In 2016, Luisa received the Maxwell F. Marcuse Award, which is LIM’s highest alumni honor.
Luisa Herrera Garcia
2025 Honorees
In addition to Luisa Herrera-Garcia, we will honor two LIM graduates who have built outstanding careers in the business of fashion and lifestyle.
Velissa Vaughn, MPS Class of 2016
Owner and Co-Founder of JxV Collective will receive the Shining Star Award. Chosen by LIM’s Industry Advisory Board, the Shining Star Award goes to an alum who has demonstrated significant achievement over the course of their career.
Brandon Smithwrick, Class of 2018
Head of Content at Kickstarter, is the 2025 Rising Star Award recipient. Also selected by our Industry Advisory Board, the Rising Star Award goes to an alum who graduated between one and eight years ago and has shown significant career growth over this short period of time.