Tuesday, February 3, 2026
Hockaday
Alumnae in Fashion
Hockaday Alumnae in the Arts I 2026
6:30 pm
Reception
7:15 pm
Introductory Remarks and Panel Discussion
Moderator
Kelsey Scroggins Groome ’00
Panelists
Anne Schwitters Smith ’92
Anne Wallach ’01
Robyn Sills Wedgeworth ’02
Alissa Fagadau Zachary ’01
Anne Schwitters Smith ’92
Merchandising and Product Marketing Executive
Scarborough, Maine
Anne Smith is a consumer-brand executive with deep expertise in merchandising, product strategy, and customer insights. A Wellesley graduate, she has spent her career at L.L.Bean and Cole Haan leading multi-category teams and shaping the product stories, assortments, and go-to-market strategies that deliver covetable, high-impact products customers love. She is known for blending creative intuition with analytical rigor to build relevance, strengthen loyalty, and drive sustainable growth.
Beyond her corporate work, Anne serves as Vice Commodore of the Prouts Neck Yacht Club, supporting governance and youth programming. A passionate traveler and lifelong learner, she has explored all 50 states and more than 55 countries and enjoys sailing, tennis, golf, cooking, and time with her family.
Anne Wallach ’01
President and CEO, Forty Five Ten
Dallas, Texas
As President & CEO of Forty Five Ten, Anne Wallach stands at the center of one of Texas’ most influential fashion institutions — leading the brand into its next era with a quiet strength, a sharp creative instinct, and a deep respect for the art of curation.
A Dallas native and Cornell graduate, Anne began her fashion career in New York, where she spent more than a decade in senior leadership roles with Gucci, Marc Jacobs, and Mansur Gavriel. These formative years sharpened her perspective on craftsmanship, operational discipline, and the emotional power of great retail — lessons that still shape her approach today.
In 2018, Anne returned home to Texas, joining Forty Five Ten during a pivotal moment for both the brand and the broader retail landscape. Initially brought on as Vice President of Operations, she quickly became a stabilizing and forward-thinking force as the company navigated shifting consumer expectations, the complexities of a downtown flagship, and the global disruptions that reshaped fashion and luxury. Her leadership — described as measured, thoughtful, and unflappable — helped steer the brand through a period of reinvention and renewed clarity.
Appointed President and CEO in 2021, Anne now oversees the intersection of business strategy, creative direction, and customer experience. She is known for her ability to hold both big-picture vision and granular detail with equal fluency, championing an editorial approach to merchandising while ensuring every operational decision strengthens the brand’s long-term foundation. Under her guidance, Forty Five Ten continues to elevate emerging voices alongside established designers, reinforcing its reputation as a destination where art, fashion, and culture meet.
This year marks another transformative chapter as Forty Five Ten expands to Fort Worth with its highly anticipated boutique and Café Mirador. The project reflects Anne’s belief that retail should feel personal and transportive — a place where hospitality, discovery, and design work in harmony. The Fort Worth space introduces a refined, intimate expression of the brand, rooted in its DNA yet shaped thoughtfully for its new community.
With more than twenty years in luxury fashion and a lifelong connection to Texas, Anne embodies the balance that defines Forty Five Ten today: globally informed yet locally grounded; bold in vision yet meticulous in execution. Her leadership continues to evolve the brand while honoring the creative spirit that has made Forty Five Ten a cultural touchpoint for more than two decades.
Robyn Sills Wedgeworth ’02
Senior Director of PR and Partnerships, Tecovas
Dallas, Texas
Robyn Sills Wedgeworth holds a B.A. in English from Tulane University. She began her career in New York City at InStyle before pivoting to PR and Communications for global fashion houses Bottega Veneta and Prada.
After a decade in New York, Robyn returned to Texas to lead PR and
Partnerships at Fossil Group. She now oversees PR, Partnerships, Influencer Marketing, Events, and Retail/ Wholesale Marketing for Tecovas. Robyn lives in East Dallas with her husband, Travis, and son, Lewis. She credits her 12 years at Hockaday for her tenacity, curiosity, and lifelong commitment to meaningful female friendships.
Alissa Fagadau Zachary ’01
Founder and CEO, High Sport
Beverly Hills, California
Alissa Zachary is the Founder and CEO of High Sport. With degrees in economics from Cornell University and in design from Parsons School of Design, she worked across fashion design, merchandising, and category building—including nearly a decade at The Row and as part of Khaite’s launch team. She founded High Sport in Los Angeles in 2021.
High Sport is a modular wardrobe for the sport of modern life, designed for
polished versatility and defined through tailored silhouettes, custom-engineered fabrics, and technical precision. High Sport is available at top boutiques worldwide and through its own dedicated sales channels, including e-commerce and a retail studio in Los Angeles. It has been worn by celebrities from Jen Lawrence to Chloe Sevigny and has been featured in Vogue, W, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, among others.
Kelsey Scroggins Groome ’00
Head of Strategic Partnerships and Global Development
The New School/Parsons School of Design New York, New York
Kelsey Groome brings over 15 years of experience in business development, strategic partnerships, and international expansion across the retail, luxury, design, and real estate sectors. She has worked extensively with global brands and institutional partners to drive growth, launch new ventures, and structure cross-border transactions.
Kelsey currently leads Global Development and Strategic Partnerships for The New School / Parsons School of Design, where she is responsible for expanding Parsons’ global footprint and building industry-defining collaborations across fashion, design, technology, and the creative economy. Her work strengthens Parsons’ role as a global leader in design education by forging high-impact partnerships, advancing academic innovation, and connecting students and faculty with leading organizations around the world.
Prior to joining Parsons, Kelsey served as Co-Head of TRAUB Consulting, where she advised luxury brands, global retailers and developers across the Middle East, North America, Europe, Asia, and
Latin America. She played a pivotal role in launching brands in more than ten countries and shaped largescale developments such as Hudson Yards in New York and The Galleria / Al Maryah Central in Abu Dhabi. Her longstanding advisory work with the Al Tayer Group further deepened her expertise in global fashion retail, brand expansion, and market strategy.
Kelsey is recognized as a thought leader at the intersection of retail, real estate, and innovation. She has championed the emergence of digitally native brands and experiential retail and has been an advisor to cultural institutions such as the MoMA and The Frick Collection. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Streetsense, a strategy and design firm in joint venture with CBRE, and is on the Alumnae Board of The Hockaday School in Dallas, Texas.
Kelsey began her career in investment banking at Thomas Weisel Partners (now Stifel) and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BBA in Finance with University Honors from The University of Texas at Austin. She resides in New York City with her husband and two children.
SPECIAL THANKS
2026 HAARTS PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Samantha Gupta ’05, Chair
Christina Collins Sanders ’05, Chair-Elect
Minoo Sobhani Blaesche ’03
Stephanie Bulger ’05
Hannah English ’04
Jaime Crowley English ’03
Laurence Glasscock ’07
Margretta Wikert Henderson ’05
Brittani Carter-Durant Hite ’05
Taylor Bigler Mace ’05
Tess English Ross’06
Olivia Trevino ’07
Caroline Snell Wagner ’00
Marianne Wells ’68
Believing in the limitless potential of girls, Hockaday develops resilient, confident women who are educated and inspired to lead lives of purpose and impact.