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By Rachel Ellner, May 27, 2012 6:53 pm

Delayed gratification may be coming back in style. Recent graphic design grad Amanda Camodeo is putting an artistic emphasis on writing cards and letters — those that get delivered to your mailbox rather than your inbox.

Amanda Camodeo with her book of mail

“I’m a big fan of mail,” said Camodeo, whose writing booth at the Media Design Club exhibit at Center548 on Thursday was equipped with 60 handmade, Victorian-style, ready-stamped postcards and a make-shift drop-off box.  ”When you get something in the mail that isn’t a bill,  promotion or coupon, you just smile,” she said.

Suzanne Anoushian, Communication Design Chair, checking out the mail book

“With the advancement of technology people forget how beautiful mail is,” said Camodeo. The postcards seduced many hardened instant-message writers.   An hour and a half into the exhibit  so many postcards had been, well, dashed off, that Camodeo’s supply was running low.  ”I wanted to promote with the help of my drop off box sending mail and give people a chance to do so.”

Liat Alon and Natalie Eichengreen marvel at hand-written mail

Many more lingered over Camodeo’s hand-fashioned book containing old letters and quotes about mail.

A favorite of Camodeo’s is by an unknown author:

“Sending a handwritten letter is like sending a small part of yourself.”

Mark Twain was less gushy: ”Great letters are something everyone wants to get but hardly anyone wants to write, at least not at just this moment.”

Suzanne Anoushian, Chair of Communication lingered over the book’s contents and design.  ”Her research is very thoughtful. She’s created an art form out of what was the previous form of communication. Here we are at a show that’s about ‘process’ — how you get to where you get,” said Anoushian. “This is the precursor to communication as we know it now.”

Camodeo sent out the postcards after photographing them to complete the project. The cash-strapped post office should be glad. Perhaps they will mail Camodeo a marketing contract.

To see more of Amanda Camodeo’s work go to: AmandaCamodeo.com

Photos by: Rachel Ellner

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By Rachel Ellner, May 16, 2012 8:12 pm

With Barbie now ensconced in her parlors, bedrooms, and other habitats, and with a wardrobe to kill–and with Ken looking on–it was time for thinking of food and pink!  An awards ceremony recognizing those who catered many long months to Barbie’s every fashion whim took place May 10 in the Katie Murphy Amphitheater.  Cotton candy, pink cupcakes, popcorn, pink drinks, watermelon and strawberries were served to a jubilant gathering of students, parents, FIT faculty and Mattel representatives.

pre-award photo op w/ student finalists

“Play with Fashion” encompassed student work from five Art & Design departments. For the Visual  Presentation and Exhibition Design (VPED) department, their installation “The Pink Issue” serves as the graduating exhibition.

Prof. Ann Kong of VPED with students

Barbie luxuriates in her many settings and styles in the lobby of the D Building.

Maor Tapiro's winning Shopaholic design. "Barbie & I share the same shopping addiction."

A proud VPED instructor Prof. Glen Socoli with winning students Mike Jonhston, & Phoebe King

 FD Chair Colette Wong,  and A&D Dean Joanne Arbuckle toast the event 

The evening celebrated Barbie’s new looks and environments created by Art & Design students

Katie McTammany and her proud dad. McTammany won for Barbie's "green" digs. Her Interior Design showcase was made with reused and repurposed old clothes and accessories.

Jessica Mazur winner of "Timeless Barbie Powder Room" and Eirc Daniels Assist. Chair from Interior Design

Plenty of pink to go around: Prof. Johannes Knoops and Asst. Chair Eric Daniels of ID, with Craig Berger, VPED Chair

Luci Alpers' "Strike a Pose" bedroom for Barbie

Barbie finally gets  a moment to kick up her heels.

The Barbie exhibit will remain on view in FIT’s D-building lobby, corner of 27th & 7th Ave, until September 3, 2012.

photos: Rachel Ellner

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By Rachel Ellner, September 27, 2011 5:00 pm

An engaging hour’s talk filled with industry experience and trend observation of who, and what, dictates fashion, was held in Katie Murphy Amphitheater on Thursday.  ”What Makes a Good Creative Director?” was moderated by Faces & Places instructor Joshua Williams.

One challenging topic was the response to fashion in the economic downturn. “There was never more luxury than in the 30s,” said David Wolfe of The Doneger Group.  ”Will the middle class find a way to be inspirational or feel trapped in the new financial landscape that they’ll go for the generic…Some will have called it correctly and others will be off by a mile.”

Piera Gelardi of Refinery99 noted regional differences in fashion. “Even though fashion is becoming worldwide there’s still a lot that’s local…Cities have their own style.”

“There’s a degree of homogenization…brands have leveled out,” said Wolfe. ”I don’t think we have a fashion dictatorship. We don’t have to buy something to be in style.

“Customers are playing a larger role,” in fashion said Emmett Shine of Gin Lane Media.  Yet creative directors he said still need to call the shots when they have a “gut feeling.”

Emmett Shine of Gin Lane speaking

“Staying true to your customers but not staying irrelevant,” is Gelardi’s approach. “People are trying new ways of testing products–to have people vote on products–it’s changing the whole brand system.”

Shine said he liked the “democratization” of social media. “I have my own taste but it’s fine for people to figure it out on their own.”  But you have to know your “voice, vision and narrative” he said.

Social media, the panel agreed, doesn’t replace meeting people and sharing ideas. “People who are at the right place and the right time put themselves at the right place and the right time 10 times,” said Shine.

On that note Piera, was keen to advise students “exceed expectations.”

Students lingered to ask questions. “It’s an awesome for students to be in touch with the brands they admire and the people who make the brands go round,” said FMM student, Claudette McQueen. “It makes it less fantasy and more tangible.”

Photos provided by The Doneger Group

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By Rachel Ellner, June 23, 2011 6:10 pm

A Hurly-Burly Capstone Exhibition might be defined as a commotion of artistic expression and wonderment that lures and intrigues the viewer.  The Hurly-Burly, an exhibit of master’s in Illustration works, is on display at The Museum through July 2nd.

“The show is a wonderful way to bring my ‘mythological hybrids’ to life,” says Lisa Murgo, Class of 2011. Her works are an invitation to other-worldly lands and playful beasts.  ”It is great when feedback from unbiased sources reinforces what you are planning to do.”

“Allpaku” by Lisa Murgo

Illustration is “a constant love,” says Murgo. “It’s the heartbeat of everything I do.”

"Basilisk" by Lisa Murgo

Murgo invested in a master of arts degree in Illustration in order to forge a career change in illustration, which she hopes will include teaching. “I loved the program. It woke up my brain,” she says. “I even loved working on a thesis–It’s a discipline that makes the other side of the brain better-–it balances the creative with the logic.”

The illustrations in the Capstone Exhibition, according to the Museum website, ”reflect the independently-minded mission of the program.”

In fact, “The class (of 2011) was as diverse and colorful as the artwork on the walls of Hurly Burly,” says Elena Ambotaite. “We all came from different walks of life and backgrounds, yet we managed to become a cohesive unit, influencing and challenging each other.”

“It was nothing less then a pleasure to learn and grow alongside people who share the same passion,” says Ambotaite of her experience in the MFA class of 2011.

For more info visit The Mueum at FIT website: http://fitnyc.edu/336.asp

All images used with permission

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By Rachel Ellner, May 13, 2011 2:47 pm

May 12th  marked the opening of the BFA Photography Exhibit at the Salt Space.  Fortunately, there’s more time, until May 25th, to be transported by its wonder and magic.  See details below.

“42″ the Fashion Institute of Technology BFA Photography 2011 Senior Show is on view from May 12 – May 25 at Salt Space,1158 Broadway @ 27th St., floors 4 & 5. For more information go to: www.fitbfaphoto.com

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By Rachel Ellner, May 10, 2011 4:08 pm

Flounce, imagination, otherworldliness and attitude, even some innocence and sweetness were thematic in the 83 designs on this year’s 2011 Graduates Collection runway.

Floral exotic frocks, lavish capes, ornate knit tops and billows of lace–even luggage-style pocketbooks gave a look and feel of destination, going places, mid-Atlantic travel, arrival and departure. Even a white fur majorette hat reflected movement, luxury and style.

With designs and patterns–and a big sideways smile to capture your heart. “So European!” enthused one attendee. “If this doesn’t look like Pinco Pallino, nobody does!”

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By Rachel Ellner, March 16, 2011 5:12 pm

Dr. Deborah Willis, MacArthur fellow and chair of New York University’s photography department

“I was a student in the 70s,” said Willis in her opening remarks to the attendees of “Posing Beauty,” a Dean’s Dialogue hosted by the School of Art & Design. “I asked my professor ‘Where are the other images,’” of African Americans? “There were (those of) tenant farmers, of laborers and that’s fine.” But the range of images of African American life was woefully incomplete.  Willis had a “curiosity of the lack of images of blacks.”  Her professor suggested she search out photos that might tell a larger story.

Deborah Willis's 2009 book cover "Posing Beauty"

Her book, “Posing Beauty: African American Images from the 1890s to the Present,” is another turn in her investigation.  ”I found myself as a resource…I grew up in a beauty shop.  The images for me are to open up the dialog– Sometimes an image is a story of desire, other times it’s a woman seeking the American Dream,” said Willis.

Pickin, by Lauren Kelley

Willis is observant of “how women are always under surveillance…I’m always asking ‘How are these images used?’”

Among the photographs Willis showed were:  a posting of run-away slave described as “rather good looking”; cinema stars like Josephine Baker; various looks of women working outside the home; studio portraits; and iconic shots of Issac Hayes, Malcolm X, Pam Grier and James Brown.

Isaac Hayes by Ernest Withers

“Black beauty has been silenced,” said Willis. “Special issues (on African- American life) gives the public an opportunity for exchange,” she said “but I wish it didn’t have to be a special issue.”

Harlem Queen, by Lewis Watts

“What I took away from this,” said fashion design student Michelle Richards, “is that when she was a student she asked:  ’Where are the black photographers and photographs?’ Too often students accept the lesson as fact rather than as an introduction, and then you take it further. This whole thing started as a research project. She took the initiative and researched the gap in her education.”

Assistant Dean Dr. Erika Massaquoi with guest speaker Dr. Deborah Willis

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By Rachel Ellner, August 31, 2010 2:58 pm

Amy Astley, editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue, which launched in January 2003. Ms. Astley was named to edit the new magazine in June 2002 by Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of Vogue and editorial director of Teen Vogue.

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By Meredith Perkins, May 21, 2010 6:01 pm

 FIT ’65 Alumna Audrey Schilt’s Illustrations

As They Were On View In our D-building lobby, Winter 2010

Drawings of Audrey’s Ralph Lauren gowns worn by Gwyneth Paltrow to the Academy Awards &  Emmy Rossum to the Golden Globes, plus original concept drawings, advertising images, design silhouettes.

Audrey Schilt Exhibition - 2

Illustrations of Audrey Schilt, a Fashion Institute of Technology alumna who worked closely with Ralph Lauren for 22 years, werer on display at FIT in an exhibition titled Art of the Collection: The Design Spirit of American Fashion Artist Audrey Schilt from December 3, 2009 through January 27, 2010.

Included were sketches of the pink silk Ralph Lauren gown worn by Gwyneth Paltrow at the 1998 Academy Awards, on which Schilt collaborated, as well as sketches of the white silk and organza Lauren gown worn by Emmy Rossum to the 2005 Golden Globes, which Schilt designed.  These were among the approximately 250 works created by Schlit between 1986 and 2008 on view, including original concept drawings,  advertising images, design silhouettes, and works in watercolor and chalk on paper.

Audrey Schilt Exhibit -1

After graduating from FIT in 1965 with a degree in illustration, Audrey Schilt started her career as sketch artist for Halston, where she drew several of the hats for which Jacqueline Kennedy became known, including the pillbox, and Halston’s first women’s collection line.  From there, Schilt moved to freelance work, creating fashion ads for such clients as The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and Bergdorf . Schilt also returned to school to learn pattern-making and draping.  She then worked as a designer for Jacque Bellini for five years, as well as on a children’s line of clothing.

Hired as concept artist at Ralph Lauren, Schilt rose during her 22-year tenure to vice president and creative director of collection for the company.  Now retired from her position at Ralph Lauren, Schilt has turned her attention to other artistic endeavors and continues to consult as a designer.

exhibition was co-sponsored by the college’s School of Art and Design, the Gladys Marcus Library at FIT, and the library’s PrintFX Graphics Lab.

Audrey Schilt - Window Display

FIT’s School of Art and Design offers programs leading to both the AAS and BFA degrees, including Accessories Design, the only program of its kind in the country, and two other pioneering programs– Visual Presentation and Exhibition Design and Toy Design.  Its most acclaimed program, Fashion Design, was established when the college was founded in 1944.

FIT, a leader in professional career-oriented education, is a selective college of art and design, business and technology of the State University of New York (SUNY), with 44 majors leading to the AAS, BFA, BS, MA, and MPS degrees.  The college serves more than 10,000 students and offers courses in a wide range of fields.  Visit www.fitnyc.edu.

Photos:  Rachel Ellner