STUDENTS OUTFIT RALPH PUCCI MANNEQUINS IN PAPER GARMENTS, SHOW PAPER SCULPTURE IN PUCCI SHOWROOM
Detail of paper dress by third place winner Thom Forsyth (Interior Design ’11) Click image above to see more Pratt + Paper & Ralph Pucci photos. A dress created by senior industrial design major Dana Otto as a study in three-dimensional lace, was voted the best design to emerge from the semester-long Pratt + Paper & Ralph Pucci project, a collaboration between an interdisciplinary group of Pratt students and mannequin designer Ralph Pucci.
The Pratt + Paper & Ralph Pucci project involved 50 students from the industrial design, fashion design, interior design, and fine arts departments who were challenged to a semester-long study in texture and form to dress Pucci’s Spring 2011 GIRL 2 mannequins entirely in paper from only a white palette.
The project was led by Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, acting chair of the Department of Fashion Design at Pratt, with the help of Anita Cooney, chair of the Department of Interior Design; Steve Diskin, chair of the Department of Industrial Design; Josh Longo, visiting instructor, Department of Industrial Design; and Donna Moran, chair of the Department of Fine Arts.
The 20 clothing designs and four sculptures were unveiled December 7 at the Ralph Pucci International/Gallery 9 Showroom. The exhibition space also featured large pencil drawings of the Pucci mannequins by graduate interior design student KC Weakley.
Selecting the project’s best pieces were Linda Fargo, vice president of fashion, Bergdorf Goodman; Nicole Fischelis, vice president of fashion, Macy’s; Jens Risom, furniture designer; Greg Mills, founder of Greg Mills Showroom; Deborah Turbeville, photographer; Ken Smart, creative director, Ralph Pucci International; Anna Sui, fashion designer; and Vicente Wolf, interior designer.
Paper for the project was donated by Borden & Riley Company, Inc., and Mohawk Fine Papers, Inc.
In announcing the winners, Pucci, considered one of the world’s leading innovators in the mannequin industry, said the judges struggled to select the best designs.
“‘It’s not fair, they’re all so good,’” Pucci recounted hearing from one of the judges. He also repeated hearing from another judge: “‘This is the best show in New York. It’s better than the MoMA or the Guggenheim.’”
Ultimately, Dana Otto was awarded first place; Meredith Lyon and Beatrice Weiland, juniors in the Department of Fashion Design won second place; and graduate interior design student Tom Forsyth won third place.
A set of sculptural spheres running through the center of the room by senior interior design students Su Ting Chen and Samantha Johnson was named the best sculpture.
Winner Dana Otto said the idea for her piece took root while studying product design at the Bauhaus, after which she began working with laser cutters. Her piece was created by designing snowflake-like shapes, creating them with a laser-cutter, then gluing them together.
She also called her dress a study in three-dimensional lace; the dress evolves from a two-dimensional bodice and then fans out into a lacy skirt.
She said she was “thrilled” with winning first place.
“The show was so much fun to be part of, so this is just the cherry on top.”
Photo: Antoine Bootz
Gateway Editors
Reader Comments (2)