VOGUE EDITOR HAMISH BOWLES NAMED 2011 PRATT INSTITUTE FASHION ICON

Bowles to Receive Award at Annual Pratt Runway Show on April 27

Pratt Institute will present the 2011 Pratt Institute Fashion Icon Award to Hamish Bowles, Vogue’s European editor at large, at its annual fashion runway show at 6 PM on Wednesday, April 27, 2011, at the Manhattan Pavilion at 125 West 18th Street in Manhattan. The show will be followed by a cocktail benefit, with proceeds supporting Pratt Institute’s Department of Fashion Design. Bowles is one of the most respected authorities on the worlds of fashion and interior design.

Bowles, who oversees all interior design features, writes profile stories, and covers fashion, contemporary culture, and the history of fashion and style, will be the sixth Fashion Icon to receive this honor from Pratt, following Catherine Malandrino in 2010, Ralph Rucci in 2009, Carmen Marc Valvo in 2008, Narciso Rodriguez in 2007, and Diane von Furstenberg in 2006.

“I am delighted that Pratt Institute has decided to honor me with this award, and to be joining such a distinguished pantheon of past recipients. It means a great deal to me to be celebrated in this way by a fashion faculty that is thronged by such lively and inspired talents,” said Bowles.

The 2011 Pratt Fashion Show will feature the work of select graduating seniors from the program. The designs to be shown on the runway will be pre-selected by a panel of fashion industry critics and will span several categories of apparel including women’s, men’s, evening, bridal, sportswear, and costume design. One of the most prestigious colleges for art, design, and architecture in the world, Pratt Institute is home to the first fashion design program in the United States.

“We are thrilled that Hamish Bowles will be Pratt’s 2011 Fashion Icon,” said Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, acting chair of the Pratt Fashion Design Department. “Students in this year’s graduating class admire his knowledge and appreciation of fashion as an art form and look forward to honoring him at this year’s runway show,” she added.

Bowles began as Vogue’s style editor in 1992 and was promoted to European editor at large in 1995. He also currently contributes to Vogue.com through his rubric “The Hamishsphere.” Bowles began his career at London’s Harper’s and Queen magazine in 1984, working as fashion editor and rising to style director in 1989.

Bowles is curator of “Balenciaga: Spanish Master” at the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute, Manhattan. The exhibition considers the impact of Spain’s culture, history, and art on legendary designer Cristóbal Balenciaga and is on view through February 19, 2011. The exhibition will be expanded for the de Young Museum, San Francisco, in spring 2011. Bowles also organized and mounted the internationally renowned and critically acclaimed “Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years—Selections from the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute while a creative consultant at the museum in 2001. The popular exhibition later reopened at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

In addition to his work at Vogue, Bowles has written for and contributed to countless articles, reviews, and books on fashion history, art, lifestyle, and interior design. His books include Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years (Bulfinch, 2001); Carolina Herrera: Portrait of a Fashion Icon (Assouline, 2004) Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People (Knopf, 2007); Yves Saint Laurent Style (Abrams, 2008); The World in Vogue: People, Parties, Places (Knopf, 2009); and Balenciaga: Spanish Master (Skira Rizzoli, 2011). His lectures include “The Dandy” (1984) at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; “The Newest Art” (1998) and “The American Century: America's Fashion Ascendancy and Its Roots” (1999) at New York University; “Molyneux” (2008) at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York; “The Line of Beauty” and “Yves Saint Laurent and the Influence of Christian Dior” (2008) at the de Young Museum, San Francisco; “My World in Vogue: Reporting the Fashionable Life” (2010) at Savannah College of Art and Design; and “Balenciaga: Spanish Master” (2010) at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York.

Bowles has an extensive private collection of historic haute couture and fashionably significant clothes. He has loaned pieces to exhibitions at several museums including the The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, the Fashion Institute of Technology, and the Museum of the City of New York in Manhattan; the Palais Galliera and the Musée de la Mode et du Textile at the Louvre in Paris; and the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museum of London.

Bowles was educated at Saint Martins School of Art and Design in London and resides in both Manhattan and Paris.

The 2011 Pratt Fashion Show is partially funded through a competitive grant presented to Pratt by the Importer Support Program of the Cotton Board and Cotton Incorporated. Cotton Incorporated, funded by U.S. growers of upland cotton and importers of cotton and cotton textile products, is the research and marketing company representing upland cotton. The Importer Support Program is designed and operated to improve the demand for and profitability of cotton.

For general inquiries and to purchase fashion show and cocktail benefit tickets, please call 718-230-6814, email fashionshow@pratt.edu, or visit us at www.pratt.edu/fashionshow. 

Photo: Patrick McMullan Photography

KIPLINGER NAMES PRATT ONE OF THE COUNTRY’S BEST VALUES IN PRIVATE COLLEGES FOR 2010—2011

Pratt Institute is one of the country’s best values in private colleges and universities according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, which ranked Pratt as one of the top values for academic quality and affordability out of more than 600 private institutions. Pratt is the country's only college specializing in art and design included on the publication's 2010-2011 list of the top 100 private college and universities ranked as best values.

The rankings measure academic quality and affordability, with quality accounting for two-thirds of the total. Kiplinger’s started with data on the private institutions provided by Peterson’s Undergraduate Database, then added its own reporting. To determine each category, the magazine used the Carnegie Classification system, which organizes institutions based on the highest level and number of degrees offered. Pratt was listed 91st out of the top 100 private colleges and universities ranked as best values by the magazine.

The categories assessed include admission rate, SAT and ACT scores of incoming freshmen, number of students per faculty member, graduation rate, total cost, average debt upon graduation, and additional measures of cost and aid. For more information on the rankings, please visit Kiplinger.com.

Kiplinger is a Washington, D.C.-based publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance has been ranking the nation’s top public and private colleges since 2006.

MACY'S HERALD SQUARE WINDOWS DISPLAY STUDENT WORK FROM “PRATT + PAPER & RALPH PUCCI” PROJECT

Work Can Be Viewed on Broadway Between 34th and 35th Streets Through
January 26

Work from the "Pratt + Paper & Ralph Pucci" project is on display in the windows of Macy's Herald Square.Macy’s Herald Square has unveiled seven new window displays featuring paper looks and sculptures, as well as a series of large pencil drawings, created by students in the Departments of Fashion Design, Industrial Design, Interior Design, and Fine Arts. The work can be seen in the windows on Broadway between 34th and 35th streets through January 26.

The Macy’s display is part of the exhibition “Pratt + Paper & Ralph Pucci” that was on view at Pucci’s Gallery Nine Showroom in December. The pieces for that exhibition were created as part of a collaboration between an interdisciplinary group of Pratt students and Ralph Pucci International, one of the world’s leading mannequin designers.

The semester-long study in texture and form challenged the students to dress Pucci’s Spring 2011 GIRL 2 mannequins entirely in paper using only a white palette.

The project was led by Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, acting chair of the Department of Fashion Design, 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 in the Department of Industrial Design; and Donna Moran, chair of the Department of Fine Arts. The “Pratt + Paper & Ralph Pucci” exhibition highlighted the best work from the project as selected by Ralph Pucci and others.

“As soon as I saw the students’ work I knew immediately I wanted to showcase it in our Broadway windows,” said Paul Olszewski, director of windows, Macy’s Herald Square. “The creativity and craftsmanship that the students exhibited on this project is just amazing. At Macy’s we truly believe in promoting art and artistry in our windows. It is this fusion between art and fashion that really makes our windows unique, and working on this collaboration has been no exception. I’m excited for the students, as well as for the thousands of people who will get to view these incredible designs,” he added.

From its inception, Macy’s Herald Square was a store unlike any other, and over the past 150 years it has become a true New York City icon. Built in 1902, Macy’s Herald Square was the first building to have the modern day escalator. Since then, Macy’s Herald Square has continued to be a trendsetter and today, “America’s Largest Department Store” covers an entire city block with 10-and-a-half levels of merchandise.

“This exhibition truly highlights Pratt’s exceptional programs and superb students who aspire to work in the art and design fields,” said Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, acting chair of the Department of Fashion Design. “In every piece, the paper was transformed to a point where we no longer see it for what it was but for what it has become—something completely new and unexpected,” she added.

A panel of distinguished judges selected the top three looks and top sculpture, which were announced at a December 7 event. The winning looks were created by Dana Otto (Industrial Design ’11 from State College, Pa.), Meredith Lyon and Beatrice Weiland (Fashion Design ’12 from Newburyport, Mass. and Bexley, Ohio, respectively), and Thom Forsyth (Interior Design ’11 from Boston, Mass.). Su Ting Chen and Samantha Johnson (Interior Design ’11 from Maspeth, N.Y. and Pullman, Wash., respectively) received the top prize for their show-stopping sculpture. The winning designers received awards in the form of 12-inch mannequins hand sculpted by Pucci designer Michael Evert.

Those on the judging panel represented some of the best and most creative minds from the worlds of fashion and design and included Linda Fargo, vice president of fashion, Bergdorf Goodman; Nicole Fischelis, vice president of fashion, Macy's; Greg Mills, founder of Greg Mills Showroom; Jens Risom, furniture designer; Anna Sui, fashion designer; Deborah Turbeville, photographer; and Vicente Wolf, interior designer.

“When I saw the work, I was blown away,” said Ralph Pucci in a December 2010 interview with the New York Daily News. “These Pratt students are incredibly talented.”

Select works from “Pratt + Paper & Ralph Pucci” including a sculptural piece by Emily Vislocky (Industrial Design '11) and 12 paper looks will travel to EuroShop, a global retail trade show in Dusseldorf, Germany, that will take place from February 26–March 2, 2011. COFRAD Mannequins, a French-based family-run mannequin business, will display the work and Pucci's Spring 2011 GIRL 2 mannequins in a show, titled "COFRAD Presents Pratt + Paper & Ralph Pucci." In addition, graduate interior design student KC Weakley 's ('11 from Brooklyn, N.Y.) large pencil murals of the Pucci mannequins that were on display as part of "Pratt + Paper & Ralph Pucci" will be featured in WALL (Glitterati Press, 2011), a book on Ralph Pucci International's wall murals.

A full exhibition catalog of “Pratt + Paper & Ralph Pucci” is also being produced and will include photographs of the work by Antoine Bootz.

Photos: Eddie Belaval