Reconstruction 3.0 – Press Coverage

Students from four different disciplines collaborate on live performances inspired by Louis Vuitton’s vision, “Life is a Journey”

As an exciting conclusion to New York Fashion Week, students from Parsons The New School for Design, The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and the Joffrey Ballet School’s Jazz and Contemporary Program performed Reconstruction 3.0: Life is a Journey, an evening of live performances featuring original music, dance and fashion inspired by Louis Vuitton and its heritage of travel.

This cross-disciplinary initiative began in the classroom last fall. The schools put together five teams, each consisting of a Parson’s fashion design student, a New School Jazz composer and a Joffrey Ballet School choreographer. These teams were tasked to develop a live performance consisting of an original music score, choreography, and conceptual garments that reflected the theme, “Life is a Journey.”

“Reconstruction 3.0 represents our third collaboration with Louis Vuitton, and once again we’ve pushed the boundaries—this time bringing together our students with composers and choreographers,” said Simon Collins, dean of the School of Fashion at Parsons. “It has been amazing to work with such great collaborators as Louis Vuitton, New School Jazz and the Joffrey Ballet School. The inspiring results reflect the richness and originality of this effort.”

The performances were reviewed by a panel of experts from the worlds of dance, music and fashion. They included Simon Collins, Lanessa Elrod, Vice President of Merchandising for Louis Vuitton North America, choreographer Gus Solomons Jr., composer Laura Kaminsky, and Zanna Roberts Rassi, senior fashion editor at Marie Claire. One team was awarded a trip to Paris to experience craftsmanship and artistic expression first hand at Louis Vuitton’s atelier and the historic home of the Vuitton family in Asnières, France.

Congratulations to all of the students who participated, performed and displayed what they love to do best to the world on this exclusive, one-time-only event.  The winning team, Chronogenesis, was choreographed by Angelica Stiskin; danced by Catie Leasca, Maria Rodriguez, Jaedon Thomson, Alex Hopp, Amy Patterson, Shay Saver, Carly Piotrowski, Kali Mikelson, Anna Simms and Michele Montana; composed by Arthur Hnatek; and costumed by Jack Burns, Kumie Asai and David Valencia.