Clash Of The Fashion Schools
Designer Cynthia Rowley helped to judge the second annual undergraduate fashion show of the Fashion Institute of Technology and Parsons School of Design.
Designers from each school battled for awards including, the “Most Memorable Designer” from Parsons and FIT and “Best Overall School.”
Starting off the show was a collection by last year’s Most Memorable Designer from Parsons, Prabal Gurung. He looks to designers Oscar de la Renta and John Galliano for inspiration. His goal is to some day have his own line, but in the meantime he is seriously pursuing working for Oscar de la Renta.
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| Parsons top designer last year, Prabal Gurung, opened the show. |
FIT designers paraded their models down the runway in everything from punk rock outfits paired with six-inch stiletto boots to outfits made from beads that looked like candy. The “Candyland” theme, designed by Tamara Hall, Natasha DeMeyere, Nicole Albert, and Kristin Seamon took home the top prize for FIT.
“Fashion is just your way of expressing yourself the way you would like to, it's freedom, it's art, it's anything you want it to be," says Tamara Hall, an 18 year-old from Maryland. Tamara cites Betsey Johnson as inspiration and says she loves her feminine style and her playfulness.
FIT closed its presentation with an outstanding dress including a train made from peacock feathers designed by David Hart.
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| FIT designer David Hart shows off his peacock dress. |
The Most Memorable Designer for Parson’s, Jane Choi, started her school's collections off with a bang. She used her culture, specifically the Korean traditional costume, in her collection and worked it into modern garb.
“Fashion is art. You have to love it in order to have power in your designs,” says this 18 year old from New Jersey, whose idols include Alexander McQueen, Issey Miyake and John Galliano.
Both schools were kept in suspense until the day after the show when the "Best Overall School" award was given out. Cynthia Rowley announced that each judge was "fighting tooth and nail for their favorite from each school." Therefore they needed some extra time to look over the collections as a whole.
The judes based their decisions on passion, creativity, construction, overall tone, time investment, beauty and fluidity.
Their final decision? Parsons School of Design took the top prize this year.
By ZOY AVGERINOS