Yeahp we are right in the midst of Hanukkah and almost at Christmas but somehow this week has just simply melted away, for me and disappeared in a haze of exhausted, sleeping-late-I-can-hardly-believe-this-year-is-almost-over. And also a "Phew, these last two, three months were quite stressful and harder than I originally thought! But Maaaan, did they just fly by!"
So instead of holiday recipes and seasonal greetings and wishes, which you can find on any other blog, I will just go right back to continuing the story of my party! It is that tie of year after all...
If you remember it was time to find a space for the party. I've heard plenty of: "Don't get a big space you can't fill up, because it doesn't look good, but don't get a space too small, because it would be too crowded." So after agonizing for a couple of days and just generally freaking out about the ridiculous prices of everything in NYC I got an unbelievable break, when I talked to Simon Collins, the dean of fashion at Parsons The New School for Design. He was not only happy and pleased with the book, but graciously offered the 2nd floor auditorium in the Parsons fashion building at 40th St and Seventh Ave. If there is one thing you need to know about that space is that is huge and dreary looking, with no windows, BUT it is where they film the TV show Project Runway! That means high ceilings and professional lighting.
The space before and after!
So task number one was to make it come alive and represent all the creative forces that came together to publish this book. I thought it would be best to create an exhibition of accessories from designers featured in the book. And so I went off to one of the biggest challenges, finding pedestals that would highlight the work in the best possible way. What happened next truly surprised me! It turned out that nobody in the whole university has pedestals. Each department builds pedestals as needed and then demolishes and throws them away! After endless emails and phone calls I came up with a plan to build stackable pedestals that can be taken apart and stored for future use. Two vertical panes with a square top. The project got sponsored by the Art Media and Technology department and the finished pedestals were painted in black chalkboard paint for the bottom part and a high shine gloss for the top. The idea was to emulate the design sensibility and write the designer's names with chalk on each side of the pedestals. Here is the finished look!
Here are the finished pedestals!
And here are some of the featured accessories.
Bag and shoe by Frank Nathen
Shoe and monocle by Kristina Gress
Vegan shoes by olsen Haus
Hats by Frank Nathen
Bracelet by AImee Kestenberg
