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By Rachel Ellner, December 19, 2012 8:08 pm

It’s one thing to admire great menswear on the street. But how do you recreate that feeling of a great pair of pants walking by for a customer in a virtual store? In order to turn “Nice pants, man” into more than a stand-up line — and into a desire to purchase those pants online — was the goal of this year’s PAVE (The Planning and Visual Education Partnership) competition.

PAVE’s annual competition has categories in visual merchandising (or product display) and the interior design of retail stores. From among this year’s 400 PAVE contestants who submitted pop-up designs for Bonobos online men’s clothing store, senior interior design student Hye Young Hayley Park won honorable mention.

Hye Young Hayley Park in the middle of two fellow PAVE winners

“We’re proud to have Hayley represent the great work our students do at FIT,” said interior design chair Andrew Seifer. “Hayley is an incredible talent in our department. She won the Decorator’s Club award last spring and continues to flourish.”

Rendering of pants and denims display by Hye Young Hayley Park

“My pop-up store aims to create the virtual experience that’s closest to a physical experience by converging digital and retail stores,” says Ms. Park about the pants and denims shown in an on-the-go style in her rendering (above).  ”For each pair of pants on display, an Ipad will be provided that allows customers to read reviews, check available colors, sizes, and find additional product information before making a purchase.”

Rendering of accessories display wall by Hye Young Hayley Park

“The accessories display wall is a 3′ x 3′ modular system with adjustable shelving sticks,” says Ms. Park. “The displayed products include shoes, ties, bags and belts. The LED seating cubes can be custom-colored and be rearranged. The material would be chipboard, good for sound absorption.”

While Ms. Park’s taste in fashion is commonly noted, it’s her interior design expertise that could make virtual shopping a sleek and wonderful experience.

To read about last year’s FIT PAVE winner go to: “Natasha Melo helping us locate lipstick, eyeliner & more”

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By Rachel Ellner, September 14, 2012 5:18 pm

The innovators of the Elle Fashion Next award have stacked things in FIT’s favor. And still the competition is steep. For the first time they’ve sponsored a competition exclusively for our fashion design students. (See earlier post:  ”City-inspired fashion at the core of one’s aesthetic“ to read about some big-city experiences that served as inspiration for student designs.)

So far, two winners have been decided, one awaits our vote. Congratulations to Jongsuk Park who received the Maybelline New York Design Visionary Award  and Tae Kyung Kim who took home $25,000  and the Fashion Next Design Award.  They were chosen from 19 FIT student designers who had entered two or three big-city looks.

Now it’s the People’s Choice. Cast your vote for one of 19 finalists. To see their final “looks,” and for more about the competition — and most importantly to cast your vote! — go to: Elle Fashion Next FIT 2012 

The designs of each winner will be featured in the October and December issues of ELLE and on ELLE.com.

Jongsuk Park, winner of Elle Fashion Next award

ELLE’s third annual Fashion Next runway show was held last week at Lincoln Center. It featured the work of the FIT finalists for the 2012 Fashion Next Design Award.

Remember to vote for the student designer of your choice.  Support Elle supporting us.

Photos used with permission.

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By Rachel Ellner, August 28, 2012 2:21 pm

It’s an assignment as big as the City.  Design fashions that draw inspiration from New York. It’s a natural for FIT students, and Elle magazine is on to it. For the third year, Elle is partnering with FIT for its Fashion Next Design Award, sponsored by Maybelline NY. Twenty student designers have been chosen as finalists. Their words and designs show how entrenched they are in city life and how they chose to express their influences through fashion.

Jongsuk Park design

There are sights that make people nostalgic in New York, says one of the finalists Jongsuk Park.  “They are rusts, found in every part of the city. Walking by the tall new buildings, it is easy to find old brick buildings and rusty structures.”

“My work is on the edge of two extremes.” says another finalist Karen Pancho. “I’m inspired by the push and pull of opposites…”

“I was inspired by the mood of NYC at night,” says Bobae Kim.  ”[My] looks combine witty with modern silhouettes and present the youth and energy unique to NYC.”

“My aesthetic stems from my passion for industrial design and art,” says Joshua Myrie.  ”The use of fabric oddities stays at the core of my aesthetic. ”

Who will the winner be? Check online to see the show live-streamed at 7:30 p.m. EST on Friday, September 7 from  Lincoln Center’s Koch Theater during New York Fashion Week.

To learn more about the finalists and to see their work go to Fashion Next 2012 FIT

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By Rachel Ellner, July 30, 2012 5:31 pm

To be young, full of restless drive and talent and have studied at FIT. That’s Kieran Dallison, the inaugural winner of the GILT/CFDA All-Star Scholarship Award.  Dallison was poised yet full of excitement in describing the import of the award – having his womenswear collection produced and sold by GILT.com, an exclusive online fashion website. The experience was “surreal,” he said.

Kieran Dallison with his scholarship winner collection. Photo courtesy of Billy Farrell Agency

Fashion writers swooned in to learn more about the vision of the boy from the Grand Canyon. “I think the pure ‘un-fashion-ness’ of northern Arizona has totally affected my life in fashion,” Dallison told Lucky magazine. “We’re designing clothes with an end purpose—they have to be wearable…I’m from a ski town—it’s actually a highland desert. So I draw on a lot of those desert colors in my work.” Dallison’s  mom is a dancer, so “Movement and how clothes react to the body is hugely important to me…I also use a lot of “dancerly” fabrics and leotard-like necklines.”

Dallison, who was recently hired by ICB as an associate designer for its NY office, told us about the “great response” to the collection.  ”The sale was only up for two days. While it was up, about half of the pieces sold out, which is incredibly exciting.  I wanted to create  a collection of clothes that were easily understood, brightly colored, and super fun to wear. I like to put into my work lots of great pieces at affordable prices that still have a lot of the attention to detail and overall design aesthetic.”

In preparation for the CFDA award, Dallison told us he received an “incredible amount of support and guidance” from the Fashion Design Art department.  ”Those professors made themselves available to me at any time, and are spectacular people.  They really helped me gain the confidence in my own work that has been crucial for me to get to this point.”

Dallison attended the awards with GILT.com co-founders Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson. “It was incredible to attend the awards with them,” he gushed.

Kieran Dallison with his scholarship winner collection. Photo courtesy of Billy Farrell Agency

Dallison advises FIT students: “make it a priority to do as much outside of class as you do in class.  Internships are crucial, as you will inevitably need to foster positive relationships with your co-workers as you leave school and start to search for a job.  Contests are a fantastic way to improve on your work as well.

“If I just went along with the curriculum as it is, I would have never had the opportunities I’ve enjoyed over the past couple years.  Fashion Design is more than just a major – it’s a total life-commitment.  It’s hard work, but it definitely pays off.”

For more media coverage on Kieran Dallison go to:

Harpers Bazaar: http://www.harpersbazaar.com/bazaar-blog/gilt-cfda-all-star-scholarship-winner-060712?click=blog

Lucky magazine: http://www.luckymag.com/blogs/luckyrightnow/2012/06/on-set-with-gilt-cfda-all-star-scholarship-winner-kieran-dallison#slide=1

Styleite: http://www.styleite.com/media/kieran-dallison-cfda-gilt/#0

NBC NY: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/blogs/threadny/THREAD-Gilt-Groupe-CFDA-Kieran-Dallison-Scholarship-158146515.html

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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, February 8, 2012 4:18 pm

In honor of Carolee’s 40th anniversary, the high-fashion jewelry house has sponsored a competition exclusively for FIT Jewelry Design students. The on-going, 20-week competition that began in September, 2011 is nearing completion.  Tomorrow, 12 semi-finalists will be chosen.

“I’m always amazed how my students come through, even the shyest,” says Leila Tai Shenkin, professor of Jewelry Design in charge of the contest.”

The competition will culminate with five winners being named, one in each of four categories — pearl, metal, social occasion and fashion. The fifth winner will be a People’s Choice Award, selected through on-line voting.  Each winner will receive $1,000. The designs will be manufactured by Carolee and sold at Carolee counters around the world. They will also be displayed in windows at Bloomingdale’s in September.

This marks the first competition Carolee has had with FIT. “It’s an exciting competition by a company that has a long associations with FIT Jewelry Department,” says Chair Michael Coan.

The competition’s stages align with Professor Shenkin’s way of teaching: “I encourage students to imagine their design based on a theme. They then demonstrate ways to manufacture such a piece, making necessary changes. The students were well prepared for Carolee team, and the team was prepared for us from their first visit to FIT for the initial critique.”

To view videos of the competition’s progress follow the link to the  Jewelry Design webpage.

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By Rachel Ellner, December 8, 2011 3:36 pm

“Art Basel is to the art world what Fashion Week is to the fashion world,” says Melissa Starke, advisor for the FIT Fine Arts club Urban Studio.  This year Urban Studio was selected to participate in Art Basel Miami Beach, a contemporary art exhibition held every December since 2002. Art Basel is referred to as the “Olympics of the art world.”

Urban Studio created and installed a 16-foot sculpture, partially submerged in a pool of water, for ArtNow/Red Dot Art Fair, an exhibition site at Art Basel.

"Stroke and Poke" installation by Urban Studio

The installation is ingeniously held by sand bags attached to the bottom of the sculpture and strung by cable at the top to adjacent roof tops.  Its concept comes from “Schopenhauer’s Porcupine,” a book by Deborah Anna Luepnitz, which explores the “push-pull of intimacy and its dilemmas,” says Starke. The porcupine, with its “protective spikes,”  is the metaphor for the contradictions of human intimacy.

"Stroke and Poke"installation being hoisted by Urban Studio members

Students Brittany Gray and Eric Gottshall, along with sculpture technician Pansum Cheng, lift the sculpture into the water.

“It’s an extraordinary experience for the students to have this ‘hands-on’ opportunity to work on an endeavor of such enormous prestige. It helps them see the connection between their studio practice and what actually happens in the art world,” says Starke.

Urban studio participant Eric Gottshall got the connection.  ”It proved to be the moment where our education met the real world playing field,” said Gottshall. “I’ve never been part of a collective where the universal strive for creating something new and different was more of the essence. Because of it, this experience will always stand out in my life.”

photos provided by Melissa Starke

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By Rachel Ellner, November 23, 2011 1:05 pm

When multiple varieties of lipsticks, perfumes and eyeliners at the cosmetics store start looking like a mirage, store owners might want to contact  Natasha Melo for a redesign. The VEPD student is the first-place winner of the 2011 Planning and Visual Education Partnership competition (PAVE).  The competition was judged on  store layout and designs of the individual fixtures within it.  Melo’s entry modeled Sephora, the beauty and cosmetic retailer.

“Piece-by-piece the customer can put together their very own look,”  Melo states in her project’s concept. “Like a mosaic, many different pieces come together to form a look or work of art. Geometric shapes can be broken apart and put back together to form new shapes, and these fixtures within the store were designed to do the same.”

From Natasha Melo's Piece-by-Piece PAVE entry

“Natasha did an excellent job of integrating her concept throughout the entire design from the small scale fixtures to the overall store layout,” said VEPD Chair Craig Berger who also noted the strong entries FIT had this year.

Sephora store layout by Natasha Melo

The competition is one of the top student award programs for store design. There are over 500  entries submitted worldwide. Melo’s work was chosen from 400 entries. On December 7 2011 , Melo will receive her award at Cipriani Wall Street15th Annual PAVE Gala .

The competition provides an excellent opportunity for students to obtain real-life retail design experience. Prizes include grants to students and schools. FIT has used proceeds from previous winning years to fund materials and printing of current presentations.  This victory comes after another AAS student, Elyse Falato was selected as a finalist in the PAVE 3D Design Challenge.  Finalists will be on view at Globalshop 2012 in Las Vegas.

Images provided by VEPD dept.

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By Rachel Ellner, October 3, 2011 3:32 pm

FIT students have proven that it may all be in the packaging after all. Amidst strong competition from 10 other colleges and universities, FIT Packaging Design students won 1st and 2nd place in the Paperboard Packaging Alliance 2011 Student Design Challenge.

1st place Team GURU: l-r Tim McLaughlin, Linda Conlin, Katie Klausner, Shari Baitcher, Ryan Irven

Team Guru and Team AXIS won first and second place respectively. Team Play was considered a finalist of this year’s competition, ranking in the top seven overall entries.

Sandra Krasovec, Associate Professor of Brand Packaging Design Department, explained what the Challenge entailed:  ”It was to develop a paperboard package for a smart phone with two tiers of branding and pricing. The first design was for a high-end smart phone, keeping within sustainable parameters in regards to package size and use of materials. As well, it was to be a collector package. The designs then had to be revised to meet market demands for retailing a less expensive version of the phone, so the value perception of the package had to match. It was indeed a complex packaging challenge!”

Participants were recognized at an awards’ luncheon held in the Las Vegas Convention Center during PackExpo. PackExpo is an industry convention that exhibits packaging, processing and converting, which highlights innovations in materials and production technologies. This is the second year in a row that FIT students have won the top two awards.

Check out student work at:

http://www.paperboardpackaging.org/student_design_challenge/index.html

photos by Sandra Krasovec