Bobbin Talk

Parsons and LVMH - The Art of Craft Revisited

Another day, another party... but this time it was the students from Parsons The New School for Design who presented their work in Milk Studios. Milk studios for me has become the mecca for emerging designer presentations. It's a much cooler venue than the tents, because it hosts studios for pro photo-shoots with extremely high ceilings and tons of space - a true NYC feel! This event was the culmination of the work of over 120 students from twelve programs across Parsons who participated in creating outfits and accessories and presented them in a rotating static presentation along with documentary teasers from the teams. Honestly this presentation had more energy and creativity than most collections I saw during fashion week. Here are my favorites. Full album is on Flickr.  

Paula Cheng, Shiemi Lim, Kurt Bieg, Conway Liao, Jie Yun Roe


Frank Lazcano, Kevin Yu, ToryCensits, Trey Philips, Zane Murray


Adam Scher, Alexander Stachelek, Jennifer Schubert, Akalaksna Baenchantha, Hyeyoung Kim

 

Stockholm Fashion Week Sneak Peek

The Stockholm Fashion Week just wrapped up three days of intensely packed runway shows and exciting events and I am digging through countless photos to bring you some exciting images. Naturally I am turning first to the work of Fashion Design students on the runways. This time it's Beckmans College of Design. Here are some photos of second year fashion students collections from the only non-commercial fashion show at Fashion Week by Berns. Naturally the collections ranged from fantastical to ridiculous, with very few sensible designs, but as long as we have lady Gaga and acrobatics filled Grammys, design students will dream of dressing the stars and keep churning out bizarre pantless garments. At least there is a consistency within the concepts for each collection and students are sticking to their guns!

Fourteen students present individual collections of 3-5 outfits, with a focus on knitting and knitwear. The students have created their own materials, ranging from industrial experiments to handcrafted structures. Each student has been given creative freedom to explore his and her designer persona, and the result is as diverse as it all holds the high standard of Sweden's most honored fashion education.

All photos: Berns Salonger and copyright Kristian Löveborg

Happy New Year!!!

All the best for the new year!!! Looking forward to new adventures and meeting new people!

Do You Keep Your Stuffed Animals?

I bet you never thought of making a functional hat out of them! That's exactly what Fay did with her beloved stuffed animal, she just couldn't part with. She gave this one a second life and now it gets out of the house more than ever before! Can you say: recycle, re-purpose, reuse? Mind you creating the pattern for the inner lining, putting it together and making it fit right on her head was a complicated project!

I am always happy to see my students' projects come to life throughout the year, but I have to admit end of semester really brings the treasures out! This DIY hat was presented in my Accessory Design class at Parsons as a part of the final project. You gotta love Fay for being true to her colorful unique personality on a day she wasn't feeling well!
I have another group of students presenting tonight! Needless to say I cannot wait

Fashion Illustrations from FIT

This is the next installment from the Fashion Institute of Technology AAS graduate collection exhibit. I am always impressed by designers who are good illustrators, but amongst these talented designers there are some amazing ones!

Please let me know if you are or recognize any of the designers, who drew the illustrations. I'll be happy to add your names!

Parsons AAS Fashion Students Portfolios

I looked at the Parsons fashion design AAS graduates portfolios during their presentation selected a few of the best pages. The exhibit is up till the end of the week at the Parsons building at 40 St and Seventh Ave. If you are around midtown/garment center you should stop by and indulge in the  creativity.

I love the use of newspaper pages as a background in Monica Ditsworth's portfolio.

Designs from Yu Jin Kwon's portfolio

Parsons Fashion Design Graduates Present Ecologically and Socially Conscious Designs

The AAS fashion students at Parsons The New School for Design had their Mid Season Preview last night, highlighting ecologically and socially conscious designs. I know, it's a long title! It was a bone chilling night and I pondered on sipping mulled wine in my warm apartment but I'm glad I stepped out. The students and their guests mingled happily sipping bubbly drinks. It's the first time I see the fashion school actually having DJs spinning music and indulging in an open bar with real alcohol. I have to admit it works for me and the crowd enjoyed it all. Unfortunately for my photographing skills the lighting was really really low and unless you were carrying a five pound pro camera with extra special flash technology and whatever else is required in dimmed environments you couldn't get a decent shot, but I sure tried. Given the ecologically conscious theme, students had to use recycled or used materials and there were some pretty ingenious ides. Here are some of my favorite:

Shatun Patel bonded small metal bolts and random pieces into melted fabric.

Britt Cosgrove bonded lace onto nylon to create a groovy raincoat {definitely one of my favorites}

Fre Crawford reused recycled paper. How genius is the shape of this skirt?

Gee Yun Hwang attached wood sticks as trim. I wanna say it's ice cream handle sticks, but couldn't find the designer to ask her.

Dress embellished with soda can tabs by Riel Cho

Betty Jiang Reflects on Cooper Union

Betty is a Fashion Design student at Parsons, The New School for Design and her current design project strikes close to home. She was inspired by the new Cooper Union building at Astor Place, NYC. Her idea is that Astor Place is known for its grunge and it contrasts the futuristic and geometric nature of the new building.

Astor place is always crowded with people, but when the sun goes down they all stroll up an d down St. Marks St, and the Cooper Union building is left empty and lifeless. Metaphorically, the Cooper Union building can be personified as someone who is beautifully out of place and time,
and her shadow is blurred by the lights reflecting off of puddles formed in the rain and fading into oblivion...

Her collection reflects the urban geometric shapes of the building, and plays on the patterns formed by reflected light, but is surely not destined for oblivion.

 

On The 4th day of Christmas...

On the fourth day of Christmas my true {fashion} love sent to me: a dog to match my dress, two black calling birds, a hard to walk in dress, and a Christmas night gown!

Ok, I'll help you with a couple of close-ups.

All photos by BobbinTalk from the FIT AAS fashion design graduate exhibition, currently on display at the school's Great Hall on 28th St/ Seventh Ave. NYC.

FIT graduates Beka Forney and Michelle Pitkoff

Beka Forney and Michelle Pitkoff are a couple of the recent graduates form the AAS FIT program. Their work was featured in the exhibition currently on display at FIT's Great Hall. Their designs are inspired by Vivienne Westwood's philosophy.


And here is a fun project Beka did while freelancing for the Beckstrand Cancer Foundation (based in LA). She created four pairs of 6' x 6' butterfly wings for on of their events.

Top two photos by BobbinTalk, btm photo from Beka's own archive.
Beka can be reached at: bekaforney {at} gmail.com