The runway at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) will once again be the place for established designers, editors, and other VIPs to preview the fashion industry’s most promising young designers when the college presents The Future of Fashion, the annual end-of-year runway show, on May 1 at 6:30 pm.
Approximately 80 outstanding looks created by graduating Fashion Design students will be selected from a field of 330, including sportswear, special occasion, knitwear, intimate apparel, and children’s wear designed for fall 2013. This year’s show will also showcase a capsule collection by graduating Fashion Design students who spent their final year at the college’s Milan campus at the Politecnico di Milano.
The professionally produced show is supported by a $2 million gift from alumnus Calvin Klein, and the company he founded, Calvin Klein, Inc.
Nine major designers and design houses, including Amsale Aberra (special occasion), Maggie Norris (special occasion), Lisa Perry (sportswear), David Neville and Marcus Wainwright of rag & bone (sportswear), Gary Graham (sportswear), Flora Nikrooz (intimate apparel), Tom Scott (knitwear), Lars Andersson (knitwear), and Bonnie Young (children’s wear), serve as mentors to the students. They are visiting classrooms throughout the spring semester to critique the students’ designs, and each will select the most exceptional garment created by a student in their group for special citation as a Critic Award winner.
Six fashion and media professionals will judge the completed pieces to determine which garments are outstanding enough to earn a spot on the runway. This year’s judges are Kate Betts (Time, Inc.), Alana Kelen (VH1), Lilliana Vazquez (NBC), Bryan Grey Yambao (BryanBoy.com), Colleen Sherin (Saks Fifth Avenue), and Joe Zee (Elle).
The designers selected for the fashion show will also vie for cash awards from Cotton Incorporated, a longtime show sponsor. Students who display the best use of cotton in their garments will compete for prizes of $10,000 for first place, $5,000 for second place, and $3,000 for third place.
For the second year, cosmetics will be provided by M•A•C, along with a team of makeup artists led by Lyne Desnoyers, executive director of Makeup Artistry at M•A•C. Leading makeup artist Janice Kinjo will return for her third year.
Celebrity stylist John Barrett of John Barrett Salon, located on the penthouse floor of New York’s Bergdorf Goodman, will direct a team of hairstylists.
