Four newly-graduated designers from top U.S. fashion schools made their fashion week debut this season.
As a culmination of the two-day Fashion Future Graduate Showcase (FFGS), a partnership between the CFDA and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and made possible by Rebook, four out of 53 recent graduates on show were competitively selected to display their work in a presentation that took place on the closing day of New York Fashion Week: Men’s.
The talents were Taliah Leslie from Pratt Institute in New York, Peng Ye and Britt Luttio from Parsons School of Design in New York, and Zhouyi Li from Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
Two of the four designers found inspiration from contemporary artists for their three-piece collections. Li from AAU cited Richard Serra’s weather-worn sculptures as her influence. To that end, she presented a sculptural collection, digitally printed in muted tones of rust and black on a weighted wool fabric that balanced the collection. Luttio referenced Cindy Sherman, a masterful storyteller with alternate personas. With her pieces, the designer aimed to create garments that do not only physically transform, but can also transform the character of the wearer.
Leslie also tapped into clothing’s potential to tell a story with a focus on immigration. She looked to her familial history as inspiration for this lineup. The end result was bold in color and in process, using innovative laser-cut technology for pattern-making.
With a similar exploration of technological processes in fashion, Ye focused on distortion to create looks with linear layering in a muted color palette that was digitally printed.
All looks were finished with perfect footwear courtesy of Reebook.Producing an event of this scale was surely a learning process for the designers, and Li expressed gratitude for the opportunity: “This was the first time I was able to pick the models from casting, go backstage, and be involved in every step of putting on the show.“
Sara Kozlowski, Director of Education + Professional Development at the CFDA agreed with the sentiment: “A great indirect mentorship piece that came from this presentation is that they were on the ground with everything from casting to hair and makeup. To work with a production team and PR team was a great introduction to what it actually takes to show during New York Fashion Week.”
With a line of showgoers wrapping around the entrance eagerly awaiting to view the future of fashion, notable attendees included renowned designers Maria Cornejo, Yeohlee Teng, and Nick Graham.
It was well worth the wait.
