MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Fashion has always been a draw for Middle Tennessee State University Diversity Dissertation Fellow Nia Allen. 

When her mother was doing some spring cleaning a few years ago, she ran across a school essay where Allen wrote that her dream job was being a fashion designer, a foreshadowing of things to come.  

“I always had a keen sense of style and it’s my own style,” said Allen, who teaches in the MTSU Textiles, Merchandising and Design Program as part of her fellowship, which provides funding while she completes her Ph.D. dissertation. 

But fashion and design were far from her mind when she was planning for her college degree. The former business major called home in tears after she failed her sophomore-year accounting class; it was time to regroup. 

“I remember my friend told me they thought I was already a fashion major,” Allen said, “and I felt like that was a sign for me to switch my major. When I got into my major, I realized that’s definitely what I needed to do.” 

After earning her undergraduate degree from Clark Atlanta University, one of the nation’s historically Black colleges and universities, or HBCUs, Allen continued on the path of higher education. She garnered a Master of Communication from Loyola University in Chicago and a Master of Fashion Industry Studies from Kent State University in Ohio — one of the top-rated fashion schools in the United States. 

During that time, she gained experience in the luxury fashion industry working for retail giants like Gucci and Nordstrom. She produced a fashion weekend in her hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. And for her master’s thesis at Kent State, she launched a luxury pop-up shop that catered to Black women, all while juggling motherhood.  

“I think I’m the type of mom that I want my son to be around for every moment, so he sees the sacrifice that it took, so I bring him along,” Allen said. “I also want him to be way more than I am.”

For her Ph.D., she and her family headed south to Lubbock, Texas, to enroll in a program in the College of Human Sciences at Texas Tech University. She needed to expand her research, so she sought out a fellowship that would provide funding for her dissertation, titled, “Luxury of Choice: Black Women and Their Relationship with Luxury Fashion.” 

Textiles, Merchandising and Design departments are hard to find, Allen said. So, when she discovered MTSU, she was hopeful this would be the best place. The atmosphere is welcoming, and it puts her near the iconic fashion scene in Atlanta and even closer to the emerging industry in Nashville, she said. 

Once she met College of Liberal Arts Dean Leah Lyons, who is on the Diversity Dissertation Fellowship committee, Allen was even more comfortable with MTSU being the place God wanted her to be. 

“When I did my interview, I felt like they believed in my studying, and I felt like I could make a difference at MTSU,” Allen said. “So, it really felt serendipitous.”

Lyons said the committee felt Allen was a perfect fit for the fellowship at MTSU, especially for students who would benefit from her “zeal” for teaching. 

“She is enthusiastic, and her enthusiasm is contagious,” Lyons said. “We also knew she would be a good colleague to the cohort of scholars who are participating in the program. 

“Nia brought more to the fellowship than we could have imagined.” 

Allen has enjoyed teaching and during the second semester of her fellowship, she brought fashion icon Brandice Daniel to MTSU for a speaking engagement — an event that ties into her dissertation topic as well as her mission in life. 

Beyond hosting a dynamic speaker, bringing Daniel to MTSU served a bigger purpose.

“It was important for my students to see a woman of color in that position,” Allen said. “Brandice is a testament of hard work. She’s a testament of, ‘Yes, you can be a mom and do this.’” 

Not only has Allen enjoyed her time at MTSU, but the move has been life-changing for her family, too.  

“We have blossomed here,” she said. “I believe it was ordained for me to be here. It’s a testament of how God works. But it’s not about getting somewhere. You have to bloom where you’re planted.” 

When her fellowship ends this summer, Allen said she and her family plan to stay in Tennessee, hopefully Murfreesboro.  

After Allen earns her Ph.D., she hopes to find a position as a professor of practice. “I’ll still be working within the industry,” she added, planning to start a fashion news media company as well.

She’ll also be pushing for diversity, equity and inclusion in the fashion industry — a passion inspired by Daniel’s example. She also realized she needed to foster creative spaces for people of color within the fashion industry. 

“Women really do help each other and it’s important when you go into the world. You need to learn to become good sisters.”  

— Nancy DeGennaro (Nancy.DeGennaro@mtsu.edu)