Parsons Presents!

 by Carolina Perez, Fashion Publishing

 

The moment has arrived at Parsons! Those four years of hard work, no sleep, some tears, or even having a mini-breakdown because you didn’t meet your deadline are done! I had the privilege of seeing the afternoon presentations on May 8, along with potential future employers and customers– all were eager to know what the final collections were all about.

The thesis panel is the final review of fashion student’s last collection. It consists of a panel of 7 individuals who currently work in the fashion industry, from practicing designers to teachers who traveled all the way from Japan. Designers are given 5 minutes to present, and then 3 minutes to take questions or comments from the review panel.

When the first student walked in with her garment rack, I thought about how she stood up there with her final– and most important– work to date. Initially, it looked really nice, but as I began to listen to her concept and how the whole idea came about,  the whole picture shifted. It was amazing.  It’s incredible how much of your own personality and life experiences go into creating clothes. Clothes that you wear everyday, but never stop and think about… for example, what inspired the t-shirt I’m wearing today? When it was the panel’s turn to ask questions,  the hardest one to answer was “Which designers inspire you the most?”  Instead, inspiration seemed rooted in personal experiences, or perhaps more literal influences such as a trash bag or the bouncing of a tennis ball.

I asked  some of the junior fashion students viewing the thesis panel what they though about it, and they where amazed by every single designer who presented. We saw everything from hand made hangers to 3D prints; they’d even created their own woven fabric. Every aspect of  the presentations was amazing. Unfortunately, the space didn’t provide the correct viewing for the audience; everyone had to stand to fully appreciate the garments (unless you were in the first row!).

It would have been nice to see the designers in a proper auditorium, with big projectors for their concepts, sketches, and movies.

When it comes down to it, there is no right or wrong in fashion. Even if something is not your particular style, or if you prefer one garment over another, it doesn’t take away from the fact that everyone worked incredibly hard. Everyone should be proud of what they accomplished. Congratulations class of 2014! With such amazing work you will go so far! And for those of us who have a few years left, remember Marc Jacobs also had to go though this!