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By Rachel Ellner, November 20, 2012 4:52 pm

“There are far more ugly pairs [of shoes] in the world than pretty ones,” according to New York magazine’s fashion blog “The Cut,” which recently featured a slideshow, “The 50 Ugliest Shoes in History.”  Tossed from the closet are the ungainly Uggs, smelly-looking Birkenstocks, dependable Doc Martins and other anatomically correct species.

It’s those of the uber-fashion variety that raised eyebrows in our accessories design department.  The abundantly crystal-strewn Pradas,  the pair of femme fatale Viktor and Rolf’s, and flipper-laden Jean Paul Gaultier’s were deemed fashion failures.

Balenciaga

Less likely to condemn shoes right and left is FIT’s own VASILIOS, chair of accessories design. He had this to say about several of the pairs on the “50 ugliest” hit list.

“This speaks volumes to the footwear industry and where its potential can go — by throwing it out of the stratosphere,” says VASILIOS about Balenciaga’s multicolored plastic-techno sandals. “This usage of nontraditional materials and the inspiration coming from athletic sportsmanship like hockey, it’s a signal to the mass market about developing  fusion footwear — where athletics meet ‘fashion’ footwear. We see it in today’s market.

Prada

“Now, let’s talk about the crystals,” says VASILIOS about the Prada acrylic and crystal sandals. “Mother-goddess Prada breaks every rule and rightfully so because she forces all of us to embrace the ugly as beautiful. And in the end what do we do but follow her? Tell the mother her kid is ugly? Really?”

Kobi Levi

“Someone’s going to call these ugly? Really?” asks VASILIOS incredulously. “They’re comparing them to the mass product they have in their closets,” he says about Kobi Levi’s double boots. “This clearly is screaming to Lady Gaga. The same haters have bought every one of her songs on iTunes and have danced to them in all sorts of places including their closets.”

“If this isn’t theatricality at its best I don’t know what is. And by the way, the boot is functional.”

Jean Paul Gaultier

“Ugly unless you’re dressing for the stage, Priscilla Quest of the Desert,” says VASILIOS, about Jean Paul Gaultier’s Les Plongeuses fin-heels. Again my point is it’s theatrical, so what are you judging exactly?”

“Jean Paul Gaultier is a fashion icon. Again, are we just looking at the trees and not the entire forest? What was happening on the runway? What was the theme? Obviously, we wouldn’t see this sold at Macy’s. In the end we’re talking about it anyway – Isn’t that the whole point of marketing? And I’m sure somewhere along the way, strolling along a department store you’ve spritzed yourself with JPG!”

Nicholas Kirkwood

There was even some tenderness for some garish-colored Nicholas Kirkwood’s with furry pom-poms, which The Cut said were “the equivalent of pinata or My Little Pony birthday cake.” Said VASILIOS sighing “Well everyone has a bad dream sometimes.”

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By Rachel Ellner, November 9, 2012 7:20 pm

It requires some poking around and some leading questions to find out the extent of the awards, scholarships, internships and leadership recognitions Yecca Zeng (’12) received on the way toward her BFA in fashion design.  The short list: presidential scholar,  outstanding draping design, BFA runway show apparel designs, student ambassador, VP of the Intimate Apparel Club, peer tutor. Most notably, she’s a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence 2012.

Yecca strongly urges students to apply for is the Chancellor’s Award 2013.  She graciously answered questions about the application process, and where her suitcase full of accomplishments led her.

DEADLINE ALERT:  Applications for SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence 2013 due November 30.

Yecca Zeng

Photo:  FIT photography student Erin Glover

A&D: What made you decide to apply for the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence?

Yecca: I have always been a bit of an overachiever, and felt this award was created to recognize over achievement!  The application was not at all difficult. It only asks for a detailed list of accomplishments, both small and large. I figured, why not?

A&D:  What type of student is best suited to win?

Yecca: Anyone who pursued many different goals and succeeded. I just barely made the cut at 3.7 (GPA), and I think it is very fair.

Yecca’s latest wedding dress

Photo: JJ Mendoza

A&D: What was your mindset as an FIT student?

Yecca: From my first semester term garment to my final senior thesis, I took risks and finished complicated projects in the nick of time. I also pushed myself to overload on extra classes (both liberal and artistic) and participate in a barrage of activities. I was constantly exhausted because of my crazy schedule. There were definitely some bad test results. That never stopped me from trying to learn more, and discover new skills and ideas. I met some amazing people that I never would have if I had just stayed in the required fashion design course path.

This award is not about getting the highest grade in the class. It’s about getting the most out of everything college has to offer.

Yecca’s Femmy Gala award-winning design in Best of Intima magazine. 

Photo: Andrei Jackamets

A&D:   Do you think employers take notice of this award?

Yecca: I think it certainly doesn’t hurt. It’s given to just a handful of students and it’s a way to differentiate yourself from other job hunters.

A&D:  Tell us a bit about your work at American Eagle.

Yecca: Currently I work full time as an assistant bra designer for aerie. It’s quite interesting how much my duties change as a designer in the real world. I spend over half the day communicating between all the different hands involved in the creation of a product.  But the best part is I have evenings and weekends to enrich my life however I wish.

Yecca Zeng’s intimate apparel design chosen for the BFA runway show 2012

Yecca cont:  Back in college with all those sleep-deprived nights, when I was taking 15-minute naps every other day and drowsily riding the subway home 2 a.m. every night, I’d wonder to myself: Is it really worth it? Will I even find a job? And it is so incredibly rewarding, knowing that everything I work on now, is being produced and sold to millions.

Click here to download application for the Chancelor’s Award for Student Excellence 2013

Visit Yecca Zeng’s website

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By Rachel Ellner, October 24, 2012 3:18 pm

Balloons and pumpkin cake were waiting for interior design student Katie McTammany at the end of her photography class PH404 this morning. Katie turned 21 today.  She and her classmates had just learned how to saturate and desaturate photos in class with Prof. Brad Farwell. 

               Birthday girl Kathryn McTammany & Hayley Cavagnoll

Cake was lovingly provided by Hayley Cavagnoli.

Saturation wasn’t the only game in town. Curves and levels were topics as well.

                  Katie holding her birthday card from Jessica Mazur

With a hug from one of her peeps.

Photos by Rachel Ellner

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By Rachel Ellner, October 18, 2012 10:19 am

“If you think these big companies have it all figured out, they  don’t,” said Ruthie Davis speaking to students of Faces and Places in Fashion class this Monday. Davis is now a leading American shoe designer with collections in top retail stores worldwide. She was referring to Reebok in the 90s. It was her first major job and she saw some surprising fashion disconnects.

“People wanted their shoes to hook-up with their outfits” said Davis. “At Reebok the apparel was on one side of the street and the footwear on the other. They didn’t cross-pollinate.”  Davis ushered in some fashion-conscious teens for a brainstorming session with Reebok higher-ups. ”It’s like the shoe people aren’t talking to the clothing people,” one teen blurted out. Bingo.

Ruthie Davis

Another time when Reebok heads were stumped about why Reeboks weren’t selling abroad, Davis booked a trip to the Netherlands.  She discovered they liked brown running shoes over there, not white ones.

When you feel like a “peon” at a big company, said Davis, think bigger.

When you’re fresh out of the gate, working for a big company can be a strategically good move. “Learn on someone else’s dime,” she said. It’s nearly impossible to graduate and start a successful business right away.  ”It’s better to take time to learn, save money and plan before jumping headfirst into your own collection.”

Accessories design chair Vasilios, who had a front row seat, has known Davis for a long time and has followed her career closely. “I’m proud to say she’s America’s leading female footwear designer. She’s stomping down the doors for others to follow,” he says.

Photo used with permission

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By Rachel Ellner, October 15, 2012 3:46 pm

Pinch yourselves. Yes, he’s coming to FIT. Major charisma. A superstar in Europe with an A-list clientele, i.e., Giorgio Armani, Jamie Foxx, Ryan Seacrest, Samuel L. Jackson, Richard Branson. Yes, it’s Ozwald Boateng, the British fashion designer (originally from Ghana),  to share his unusual story of breaking into the mensware industry.  A screening of his story “A Man’s Story,” will be shown on October 29 in Haft Auditorium. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. The film starts at 6 p.m.

“His story is so personal, so real, of an outsider breaking into the establishment — Savile Row — the name of the street that’s renowned for menswear bespoke tailoring” (that is, traditional tailoring at the highest level).  His infusions bring continents closer together. “He’ll do very strict classic menswear tailoring with an African sense of color,” says assistant dean Sass Brown. “

Ozwald Boateng

 ”The film is him talking of how he lost everything and started again…It’s a great, great story, not staged,” says Brown, who had a sneak preview of the film. “He’s in back of a taxi, in his atelier, and on the red carpet. His story is relevant to everyone trying to get a foothold in their given industry, whether a design student or a business major.“

A Q&A will Mr. Boateng will follow the screening.

Come and find out how to get your own foothold!

Tickets for this event are available in the Dean’s Office, D-350, beginning October 17.

This event is open to the FIT community only.

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By Rachel Ellner, October 10, 2012 5:53 pm

Debbie Millman, former FIT professor of packaging design and current president of Sterling Brands’ design group, was a commanding presence at the seminar “Overcoming Failure: How the worst moments of your life can turn out to be the best (and visa-versa).” Millman’s talk held at Pratt Institute on September 29, was sponsored by the Graphic Artists Guild.

Ms. Millman has worked on the redesign of over 200 global brands and  authored five books on design including: “Brand Thinking and Other Noble Pursuits,” “Look Both Ways: Illustrated Essays on the Intersection of Life and Design,” and “How To Think Like A Great Graphic Designer.”

Visual presentation and exhibition design professor Veronica Romano attended the event with three of her  students.

“An objective of my professional practices class is to inform students about the realities of the industry,” says Romano. “Debbie’s presentation was so honest and the take-away incredibly inspirational. The students seemed to hold on to every word. They got it! — her whole career and so much valuable knowledge in just a short two hours!” 

l-r: FIT students Tess Wieloszynski, Robyn Williamson & Vivian Warman; Debbie Millman, Prof. Veronica Romano

Robyn Williamson’s notes from the event:

“Overcoming Failure” notes

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By Rachel Ellner, October 10, 2012 3:11 pm

The type of letter our assistant dean Sass Brown swoons over:

Dear Sass,

My name is Lindsay Mann and I’m a BFA graduate of FIT who specialized in knitwear. I studied at Polimoda in Florence, where I first met you in 2005. I’m lucky and proud to have had such opportunities. Hands down, FIT’s design programs are the best.  I thought I’d take a moment to catch you up on my professional work.

I work with Melinda Danko, also an FIT grad who studied in Florence, for  Shima Seiki USA, a Japanese knitting machine manufacturer.  The company uses a technology called WholeGarment, to  produce garments as entire pieces with little or no leftover yarn. It is a high-quality, eco-friendly method of machine knitting.

About a year ago, Shima Seiki asked us to start a brand to help promote the technology. Melinda and I were ecstatic! With the support of an internationally recognized knitwear manufacturing powerhouse, we started KOTOBA.

Our brand development decisions are made as a team, which also includes Akira Tsuno and Alexandra Sarabia. Our motto is “the whole becomes the one.” Kotoba means “language” in Japanese. The languages people speak, or the language of knitwear or technology can be an obstacle — but for us, it brings our team together.

The sustainable aspect of KOTOBA’s manufacturing process is incredible. We feel it meets high ethical standards. Our New Jersey factory is a beautiful facility. We work directly with our technicians and seamstresses, an important part of creating a quality product.

Shima Seiki is a big family in Japan. We’ve been adopted into its smaller family in the U.S. There’s pride in what we’ve created and while we’re new and still learning, we hope to inspire designers to adopt a similar approach.

We showed our Spring 2013 collection during New York Fashion Week. The presentation and launch party was a big success for us. Our design aesthetic, knitting technology, and message were well received. Our guests and models had a great time connecting with our theme of leisure activity.

We are truly excited about KOTOBA as a made-in-USA, high-quality, sustainable fashion brand. We believe that the key to changing the industry is to educate the consumer about ethical means of manufacturing.

Your know-how in eco-fashion has inspired and helped guide us as designers with the desire to improve on ethics of fashion.

For this we cannot thank you enough.

Lindsay

photos used with permission

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By Rachel Ellner, October 5, 2012 4:31 pm

your hosts from the Dean’s Office, Amy, Ashley & Kim

A roomful of expertise — department chairs, professors and student advisers — were on hand at the BFA Fair on October 4th to speak with students interested in art and design BFA majors. “Students often don’t realize the offerings and the vast number of programs available to them,” says Professor Ellen Goldstein from accessories design. “The BFA Fair opens their eyes to a vast number of opportunities.”

Suzanne Anoushian, chair of communication department with prospective BFA student

Professor Anne Kong from visual presentation and exhibition design talking to students

“We talked about everything from job opportunities to majors and ours being more 3-dimensional,” said Professor Anne Kong.

Prof. Birgit Schwarz-Hickey from advertising design talking with students

Fashion design chair, Colette Wong talks to a curious student

“The BFA Fair is a wonderful opportunity for all Art & Design students,” says Colette Wong, chair of fashion design. “It’s informative even for students who know what their major will be. They learn more about the study abroad programs and any lingering questions get answered.”

Prof. Frederun Scholz of graphic design providing guidance

Prof. Sarah Mullins & Vasilios Christoflilakos, chair of accessories design

Prof. Sandra Krasovec advising prospective student of packaging design

“I had a very important conversation with students about what they can do after graduation,” said Jeff Way, assist. chair of fine arts. “We have graduates who come to the classroom to talk about what they are doing.”

Student advisors & textile design BFA majors Gabrielle Marino and Samantha Dines help out behind the swatches

Sara Petitt, chair of textile surface design

Ramon Campos holding an octopus  prototype made by alum Andres Garza

 Ramon Campos, a student adviser, switched to toy design after completing his AAS in illustration. He was on hand to help prospective students navigate the waters.

photos: Rachel Ellner

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By Rachel Ellner, October 3, 2012 1:18 pm

This summer photography professor Jessica Wynne was one of 20 artists selected for the Freight and Volume/DNA Summer Residency Program 2012 in Provincetown, MA. The artists’ instructions were to “create new work inspired by their environment.” The DNA Gallery recently presented the results of its inaugural artist-in-residency program.   Wynne shared with us a photo from the exhibit. It’s of her little companion Molly, her source inspiration in many environments.

photo by Jessica Wynne

“The experience was great because I was surrounded by artists who were working in different mediums. This charged creative environment helped fuel the creation of a new body of work,” said Professor Wynne said of her two-week residency.