The future of fashion looks bright.

While most people in the fashion industry look to major events like New York Fashion Week for what’s next on the horizon, some of the most innovative new fashion concepts can be found at student shows from New York’s major fashion schools. Perhaps that’s why insiders like Vogue editor-at-large Hamish Bowles, former CFDA president Stan Herman, and New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn turned out for the 2012 Pratt Institute Fashion Show, held recently at Center548 in Manhattan.

In addition to 17 student presentations, the show featured a tribute to Fern Mallis, the creator of New York Fashion Week, former executive director of the CFDA, and former senior vice president of IMG Fashion, who received the Pratt Institute Fashion Industry Lifetime Achievement Award with a heartfelt introduction from designer Calvin Klein.

“Fern, as you know, has made an important contribution to the fashion industry, that few people could be capable of,” Klein said. “You really have to be built for this kind of thing. A lesser person might have run from buildings screaming.”

Following the tribute and runway show, Pratt’s Department of Fashion Design Chair, Jennifer Minniti, presented the inaugural Liz Claiborne Award, a $25,000 cash prize intended to help a particularly talented student develop a collection after graduation. The prize went to Kelsy Carleen Parkhouse, whose five-piece collection was inspired by American quilting and the Grand Canyon.

“I used vintage feed sack textiles mixed with new fabrics from the garment district,” Parkhouse said. “Nostalgia, color, and print are some other important elements. The biggest challenge was creating a collection with these inspirations that also felt fresh and new.”

Judging from the audience response to her line, Parkhouse succeeded. Here, a closer look at her work, as well as a selection of favorite looks from other graduates.

Kelsy Carleen Parkhouse, winner of the Liz Claiborne award

Kelsy Carleen Parkhouse

Theresa Deckner

Ruby Gertz

Juan Pozo

Emily Kauffelt

Meredith Lyon

Elizabeth Ammerman

Kate A. Gross

Aharon Kolatch

Dana Hurwitz

For more, check out the 2012 Pratt Institute Fashion Show in its entirety:

Images: Jessica Marati

The post Pratt Institute Fashion Show Features Rising Talent and a Tribute to Fern Mallis appeared first on EcoSalon.

Pratt fashion alumni celebrate timeless fashion for a new exhibit.

Pratt, one of the world’s leading design institutes and the oldest in the U.S. ( this year marks its 125th anniversary), kicked off its retrospective “Principles of Design: Pratt Fashion Alumni,” on Fashion’s Night Out (September 8th), exploring future-facing lessons from past and present design talent.

Pratt is home to cutting-edge, cosmopolitan design from the likes of Mabel Julianelli (BFA 1927), Samantha Pleet (BFA 2005), Ariana Bohling (BFA 2005), Laurel Mae DeWitt (BFA 2005) and Siobhan Barrett (BFA 2009), all talents among the 19 on exhibit at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery from now to October 8th.

At the opening night gala, I caught up with Sarah Scaturro, Textile Conservator for the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum and guest curator for the Pratt exhibit. “There is such incredible design all around us tonight,” says Scaturro. “My main work [for the Cooper-Hewitt] is to preserve clothing and fashion that lasts, so I’m clearly interested in timeless fashion – something strongly reflected here, tonight.”

Included in the show are slow, consciously creating designers like Samantha Pleet, known for her eponymous designs, made locally in New York City from organic and sustainable materials. Creating her own version of the American gamine, Pleet’s designs have been embraced by creatives and exposed through special collaborations with retailers like Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie, where her Shadow Cloak (below) will be sold this fall.

Ariana Bohling is another Pratt alum to watch. Taking a slow approach to fashion, this Oregon native creates leather shoes and accessories through limited capsule collections with artisans in Peru. “Hand-crafted care,” says Bohling, “is given to each piece.”

With the edgy designs of Laurel Mae DeWitt and her label LaureLuxe, sustainability takes a futuristic slant. Creating hand made accessories from recycled metal chains, DeWitt boasts clients like Lady Gaga and 50 cent.

Others, like artist Siobhan Barrett, use fashion as a medium for storytelling. “Siobhan is an especially interesting figure to watch,” says Scaturro. “She’s using clothing to create images,” referring to work like “Slowly Falling Apart,” (below), a photography and video installation featuring a cotton gauze dress being destroyed by its wearer.  While not innately sustainable, her creations make one consider our relationship with what we wear.

As for the future of fashion, Jennifer Minniti, the newly appointed Chair of the Fashion Design program at Pratt says, “We see a convergence between craft and technology. At Pratt we are really utilizing technology and embracing the local [New York City] Garment Center.”

With a hefty project underway by Save the Garment Center, a non-profit dedicated to preserving the local craft, the industry can certainly use the integrous talent of Pratt’s alumni—past, present and future and we look forward to watching their realationship grow.

“Principles of Design: Pratt Fashion Alumni” is on exhibit from September 9th – October 8th at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery, (114 West 14th Street, New York, NY 10011).

Images: Jennifer Barckley, top image of dress by Pratt Alumni Timothy Kuzmeski

The post EcoSalon at NYFW: Pratt Alumni’s Principles of Design appeared first on EcoSalon.