Zoey Ainsworth Brings Fresh Vision to Belhaven鈥檚 Fashion Merchandising Program
JACKSON, Miss. (August 1, 2025) – 黑料社 has named Zoey Ainsworth as the new special instructor of fashion merchandising in the School of Business. She will begin her faculty role in fall 2025 and lead the university’s fashion merchandising program.
Ainsworth holds both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in fashion design and merchandising from Mississippi State University. Her experience blends creative design with industry knowledge and data-driven strategy.
“Zoey Ainsworth represents the next generation of fashion leadership—blending creativity, analytics, and digital innovation,” said Dr. Brett Andrews, dean of the School of Business. “Her appointment signals our commitment to building a fashion merchandising program that is trend-savvy, data-informed and deeply connected to today’s dynamic industry landscape.”
Ainsworth brings a strong background in retail, digital marketing and visual merchandising. At West of Fifty-Five Boutique, she served as general manager and held multiple internships, leading merchandising strategies, managing a team of stylists and boosting sales through integrated marketing.
While at Mississippi State University, she completed several notable academic projects that explored the intersection of fashion, technology and consumer behavior. For her master’s program, she completed a creative project titled Exploring Visual Merchandising and Impulse Buying in Women, applying the Stimulus-Organism-Response model to analyze how in-store cues influence consumer decisions. She also designed a wearable health prototype called BreatheWear—a smart athletic garment that monitors respiratory patterns in women with POTS. In addition, she developed a fashion website and email marketing campaign that achieved high open and click-through rates, demonstrating her strength in digital engagement and content strategy.
Ainsworth emphasizes project-based learning and real-world application in her teaching, offering students hands-on experiences that reflect the fast-paced nature of today’s fashion careers. She earned third place for her Sustainable Smart Textiles Personal Protective Equipment project, which showcases her dedication to functional, thoughtful design. Ainsworth also plans to pursue a doctorate in business to further expand her knowledge and contributions to fashion education.