3 posts tagged "Pratt"
At Pratt, an Award for Thom Browne, and a Stage for New Talents
Little-known fact: Pratt Institute boasts America’s longest-running fashion-education program. With alums such as Betsey Johnson and Jeremy Scott, Pratt reps a unique vanguard in the world of design—and last night, at its 114th annual senior fashion show, some talented new names were added to its stable.
Pratt headlines its yearly runways with the bestowal of its Visionary Award—an accolade honoring fashion-world luminaries, who needn’t be directly linked to the school. Last night’s recipient? The singular Thom Browne. “It’s overwhelming,” Browne told Style.com, “when you get to do what you do, and have an important institution, with such a strong reputation in the world of design, recognize it, it’s…it’s humbling.” Presenting the award, Hamish Bowles teased his friend. Referring to Browne’s growth over the aughts, he said, “Thom became something of a performance piece himself, a one-man Gilbert & George, in his stiff, tailored buttoned-up suits with the odd proportions.” Expect to see the designer in exactly this silhouette at the Costume Institute’s upcoming Met Ball—though likely with a punk twist. “I’m going with Taylor Tomasi Hill,” Browne revealed with a smile.After the ceremony, it was on to the show, where front-rowers, including Fern Mallis, Bill Cunningham, and Bibhu Mohapatra, were treated to a lineup heavy on digital prints, washed-out pastels, a lot of white, and ultra-long silhouettes. Two designers stood out in particular: Raya Kassisieh (above, left), with her sometimes soft, sometimes sharp Brave New World brides (“It’s kind of like nouveau Mugler,” whispered Patrick McMullan), and Madeline Gruen (above, right), with her indigo colonial toile prints and glittering embroideries that blended humor with notes of Alexander McQueen and Liberace. Gruen won the night’s other big prize—a $25,000 grant funded by the Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation.
Browne’s Back in the Spotlight
From Michelle Obama wearing his jacquard coat on Monday at the 57th Presidential Inauguration to the debut of his latest menswear collection in Paris last Sunday, Thom Browne’s name is on everyone’s lips. And it looks like we won’t stop talking about him anytime soon. Today, WWD revealed that Browne will be awarded Pratt’s Fashion Visionary Award during a ceremony at the Top of the Standard on April 25. And he’s in good company, considering Narciso Rodriguez, Diane von Furstenberg, and Catherine Malandrino are all former honorees. The event will also serve as a stage for Pratt’s senior fashion students to reveal their collections—who knows, maybe a future MObama favorite will be in the bunch.
Hamish Bowles, Designer? Just Ask DVF
The graduating fashion students of Pratt Institute lived out every young designer’s dream last night at the school’s annual fashion show, where they had the opportunity to show their collections in front of an audience that included Diane von Furstenberg and Hamish Bowles.
DVF, a former Pratt Institute Fashion Icon Award winner, was on hand at the Metropolitan Pavilion to bestow the same honor on the Vogue European editor at large. Before leaving the stage, DVF admitted, “Since I have known him, I have wanted to say this to him, but I actually never have—I hope, Hamish, that some day you will be a designer.”
Bowles—who seemed leery of launching a design career of his own—was eager to direct attention to the 18 budding designers eagerly waiting in the wings. He did allow, though, that a recent trip to the Pratt campus had led to a moment of introspection. “It reminded me of my own misspent years as an art student at Saint Martins in London,” said Bowles (left, with Daphne Guinness), whose college contemporaries included the late John Flett and John Galliano. “While I’m afraid I may have spent more time concocting ever more outlandish nightclub garb, and indeed frolicking in said garb, it was of course profoundly inspiring to have spent time in the company of such astonishing creative talents.”
The collections from Pratt’s young designers ran the gamut, from JiHye Wang’s camel-colored sportswear accented with pops of acid orange and Sarah Lind’s gold lamé bodysuit (that noticeably resembled the leggings of audience member Guinness) to Dara N. Rosen’s beautifully detailed wedding gowns (maybe she’s the undisclosed designer of the Royal Dress?) and Elishah Rho’s elegant eveningwear, which had deservedly earned the closing spot.
“I was very struck by how pragmatic it was,” Bowles told Style.com after the show. “I sometimes anticipate crazy runway fantasies with a student runway show, but I thought it was very interesting that they were really thinking about the future and beyond their runway show.”