The Future of Fashion was unveiled Wednesday evening, May 1, when the Fashion Institute of Technology’s top graduating Fashion Design students showcased 91 fashion-forward looks at FIT’s annual end-of-year runway show. This professionally produced event presented sportswear, special occasion, knitwear, intimate apparel, and children’s wear designed for fall 2013 to a packed audience of designers, industry executives, and media.
Among those viewing the designs of some of the world’s most talented young designers were designers Amsale Aberra, Dennis Basso, Yigal Azrouel, Lisa Perry, Rag & Bone’s Marcus Wainwright, Rebecca Minkoff, Maggie Norris, Flora Nikrooz, Lars Andersson, Tom Scott, Bonnie Young, and George Simonton. Also in attendance were Tom Murry, Fern Mallis, Jay and Patty Baker, Elizabeth Peek, Beverly Mack, Chiu-Ti Jansen, fashion blogger Bryan “Bryanboy” Grey Yambao, stylist Lilliana Vazquez, and Siempre Mujer editor-in-chief Maria Cristina Marrero.
Noted designers act as mentors and critics to the students during their final year. These designers visit classrooms to critique the students’ work and, ultimately, select the most exceptional garments for the Critics Awards. This year’s critics were Amsale Aberra (special occasion), Maggie Norris (special occasion), Lisa Perry (sportswear), David Neville and Marcus Wainwright of Rag & Bone (sportswear), Gary Graham (sportswear), Flora Nikrooz (intimate apparel), Tom Scott (knitwear), Lars Andersson (knitwear), and Bonnie Young (children’s wear).
The young designers also vied for cash awards from Cotton Incorporated, a longtime show sponsor. Students who displayed the best use of cotton in their garments competed for prizes of $10,000 for first place, $5,000 for second place, and $2,500 for third place.
Siempre Mujer magazine sponsored a new award, The Siempre Mujer Best Use of Color Award, which was given to the student whose use of color best enhanced the design of their garment.
Inclusion in The Future of Fashion runway show is selective, with garments chosen by a panel of judges that this year included Kate Betts (Time, Inc.), Alana Kelen (VH1), Lilliana Vazquez (NBC), Bryan Grey Yambao (BryanBoy.com), Colleen Sherin (Saks Fifth Avenue), and Joe Zee (Elle).
Noted Critic Awards winners this year include Thaiana Cruz (Bronx, NY) for Childrenswear, Alina Kulik (Chatham, NJ) for Intimate Apparel, Sijeo Kim (South Korea) and Marines Padilla (Bayamon, P.R.) for Knitwear, Trung Vu (Vietnam) and Elenore Loow (Gothenburg, Sweden) for Special Occasion and Carly Rosenbrook (Minneapolis, Minnesota), Jae Lee (Hicksville, NY) and Miguel Pena (Healdsburg, California) for Sportswear.
FIT has provided a window to the Future of Fashion, From the response of the judges and the guests in attendance expect to see these graduates at a retailer near you in the not too distant future.
To view a video of the Senior Fashion Show visit fit.edu and see all the winning looks
Photos courtesy of FIT
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