PPR & Parsons fashion school tie up for design competition
17 May '12
3 min read
Parsons The New School for Design, PPR, and The Fancy have announced the launch of a new partnership giving Parsons students the opportunity to win an internship within one of PPR's 16 luxury and sport & lifestyle brands. The students' work will be featured on The Fancy, an innovative online platform at the intersection of blog, magazine, and image-based social media. The two winners of the competition will also be showcased at Barneys New York's Madison Avenue store. The competition will be based on PPR's defining theme, “Empowering Imagination.”
“PPR seeks to build bridges between the education, business, and digital communities within the fashion industry and highlight its brands as drivers of creativity,” said Laurent Claquin, head of PPR Americas. “The Fancy and PPR's partnership with the School of Fashion at Parsons will help to inspire and foster the world's future design generations by “empowering imagination.”
Open to 2012 seniors of Parsons BFA Fashion Design program, students in the areas of women's and men's ready-to-wear and accessories design will compete for internships in a three phase selection process based on the quality and conceptual vision of their thesis collections, from the garments themselves to their portfolio and visual collateral.
“The opportunity for our students to work with such an esteemed roster of premier brands in both the luxury and sport & lifestyle sectors will provide these students with the additional experience that will all but guarantee them a strong start to their careers,” said Simon Collins, Dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons. “Partnering with PPR and The Fancy will provide our students with an international perspective, thus positioning them as design thinkers poised to lead fashion globally.”
The top twenty candidates selected by the School of Fashion at Parsons will present their work to a panel of fashion industry insiders, including Simon Collins (Parsons), Laurent Claquin (PPR), Joseph Einhorn (The Fancy), Dennis Freedman (Barneys New York), Candy Pratts Price (Vogue.com), Dree Hemingway, and Vanessa Friedman (Financial Times.) In May, the panelists will review the students' work and select five finalists who best exemplify the theme.
In mid-June, the finalists will have their collections featured on The Fancy where its one million users will democratically decide which two designers will win.
The one ready-to-wear look and one accessory “Fancy'd” the most will be awarded an expense-paid internship with a PPR brand. During September New York Fashion Week, the contest winners' work will be showcased in a display at the iconic Barneys New York on Madison Avenue. The partnership will be celebrated at a private event hosted by The Fancy during Fashion's Night Out.
"We are looking forward to seeing what the brightest young designers in the world are dreaming up at Parsons. It is an honor to launch these great talents on The Fancy. We are grateful to our colleagues at PPR for providing the opportunity for the students to hone their skills and to Barney's for showcasing the winners in their flagship store. May the best designers win!" said Joseph Einhorn, founder of The Fancy.com.
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