Last Sunday wasn’t the only day that the clocks were turned back. Last night Lord and Taylor travelled back in time for a full on 80’s shopping extravaganza. I really didn’t realize just how nostalgic it would be until I heard Lisa Lisa perform All Cried Out and all of the sudden my hair was crimped, my lips were stained bright pink, and I was covered in neon.
Those are typical 80’s stereotypes, but if you asked the designers last night how they interpret 80’s fashion, they all had very different perspectives. The design challenge was to create a party dress that was 80’s edgy chic. The contestants were able to showcase their designs in front of an esteemed panel made up of fashion heavy hitters and insiders.
Music was blasting around the different floors of the Fifth Avenue store while shoppers were treated to Lychee Bellini’s and Champagne. Lisa Lisa’s performance engaged the crowd and you could just see the memories flooding into people’s heads of nights spent slow dancing with their crushes in their jellies.
Everyone including Lisa Lisa herself flipped for Nigel Barker, the head judge, who chose the charity in which the dress proceeds will go to. The top three winners will have their designs manufactured and sold at Lord and Taylor for Spring ‘10 and a portion of the proceeds will go to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. The 1st place winner received $5,000 and 2nd and 3rd place both received $2,500, all to help further their own line.
The best part about the event was the quality of the designs that the Parsons Alumni sent down. Most of the designers are working for well known designers or beginning to design their own labels so it was like getting a sneak peek of the next big thing.
One of my favorite designers was Shawn Reddy. The back of his dress had this cool gold chain and grommet thing happening and being a gold freak, I loved it. Not only that, but his portfolio and sketches were so inspiring. Plus we also shared a mutual love for Francisco Costa and Jil Sander for Uniqlo. But I digress.
- Shawn’s Chained back and sketches
I could go on and on about the others that I loved but let’s get to the good stuff! Who won the grand prize? Let’s meet the winners!
Grand Prize Winner:
Samantha Sleeper- Samantha’s winning dress was inspired by patterns in nature and space. More specifically, she looked at Saturn’s Cassini division, which is the separation between its rings. She manipulated the fabric (biased cut silk organza) in a way that thought of the woman’s body as the planet and the dress as the rings around it. Totally unique.
I loved the inspiration and her interest in creating a dichotomy between a bad ass girl and a soft woman (as you can see with her combat boots styled with a frilly dress). To me, the dress sort of reminded me of Alexander Wang and Preen, which are two very good designers to be compared to.
1st Prize Winner:
Nicki Cozzolini- Wanted to make something fun, flirty, and sexy. She feels that party dresses should embody all those elements, but also have a certain sophistication. When designing for this challenge she basically asked herself: What do I want to wear tomorrow night? A generous flowing pleated top and bloomer shorts peeking out underneath were a perfect marriage. She calls this look the trapeze romper dress and the judges loved it because it felt new and modern.
2nd Prize Winner:
Hannah Haein Lee- For this challenge, Hannah looked at a ton of 80’s movies (American Psycho as her favorite) for her inspiration. She also referenced Christian Lacroix’s notorious 80’s collections with its big skirts and poofy everything. She used a more subtle green color to go with the neon lemon lime color rather than black to keep it fresh, modern, and less harsh. The judges loved this look because it really reminded them of the 80’s. They felt is was the ultimate modern 80’s prom style dress that fit with the other 80’s looks Lord and Taylor is selling at the moment. Plus, it moved so well on the runway and captured the party feel of the event.
Look for these winning pieces at Lord and Taylor come Spring 2010!
- Gigi Burris
- Shawn Reddy
- Yin tTing Huang
- Sarah Choi
- Kyung Sig Yang
- Angelina
- Kelsey Randall
- Nigel speaking on pediatric AIDS
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