Tanni design challenge enriches learning and builds community

Thirty students and faculty from the Department of Human Centered Design (HCD) gathered on the first Saturday in November for a day-long design charette. The intensive workshop challenged students to combine their skills and perspectives and use AI-powered tools and brand strategy to develop a creative fashion retail experience and vie for a cash prize.

It was sponsored by Tanni Wu ’06, founder of tanni, a fast-growing lifestyle brand, with 10 stores in China and more opening soon.

The morning began at 9 a.m. with an introduction to tanni fashion and how to optimize AI to aid design and brand strategy. Coffeepots brewed all day as students admitted they don’t usually rise this early on a Saturday. Bright music added to the energy in the room from a playlist curated by the students to represent the tanni brand.

“Generative AI tools like KREA can expedite work and improve the creative process,” said Sang Leigh, assistant professor in human centered design, who led the AI lecture. “Students need to understand how to write prompts and direct the tool to make it align effectively with the design process.”

Yulim Heo ’16, associate director of strategy at Siegel+Gale, returned to Ithaca to lead the instruction in brand strategy. Heo, a design and environmental analysis major, began her career in design strategy before switching to brand consulting.

“The two lectures in the morning set up a great learning experience,” said Jiayi Guo ’26. “Exploring AI tools and thinking about brand strategy with the guidance of a professional brand strategist was great.”

After the lectures, students formed five multidisciplinary teams comprised of students in the majors of design and environmental analysis and fashion design and management. The teams had five hours to develop a 20-slide, evidence-based presentation documenting the creative process, concept design, a fashion capsule collection and store design rooted in the tanni brand. Heo, HCD faculty and graduate students answered questions and supported the process.

Students learned to optimize AI for designing a unique retail experience including a story layout and fashion capsule collection.

“I loved working on a team with people who are in different majors than me,” said Charlotte Chapman ’25. “I know about merchandising and the fashion side, but when it comes to the actual structural/building and customer flow, the DEA students were the experts.”

With a tight deadline to prepare a complete presentation, groups were forced to lean into other students’ expertise and trust their work. The one-day format also allowed for deep focus without distractions.

“Working with the fashion students, we learned a lot from each other and really felt the HCD vibe,” said Guo. “We have so much interconnectedness, but we also respect that we know things that the others don’t, which made for really great collaboration.”

During the lightning presentations, the five teams took the data in different directions, from an emphasis on society’s girlhood culture to a luxury experience focused on personalization and individuation. Many of the capsule collections emphasized playful prints and mother-child pieces. Store layouts offered experiential retail stores from tea parties to child-friendly play and changing areas.

The team of Claire Ahn ’25, Ivy Cao ’25, master’s student Huieun Do, Cassie Li ’25 and Yoorim Park ’25 earned first place and a $1,000 prize for their “make every day a getaway,” theme. The team proposed expanding the brand into new markets like pet accessories and creating a retail experience that offered an escape from city life. The second and third place teams earned $500 and $250 prizes respectively.

“I was impressed by what the students accomplished,” said Fran Kozen, senior lecturer and director of undergraduate studies for the fiber science and apparel design program. “The charette experience is new to me, but after experiencing it, I think we should offer more opportunities in the future.”

So-Yeon Yoon, professor in HCD and the workshop architect, was pleased with the positive exit surveys from the students.

“Tanni [Wu] and I envisioned a design exercise, something extraordinary, that engaged faculty and students together into something meaningful,” said Yoon. “I’m very grateful to Tanni and to all of the faculty and presenters for making this event such a success!”