Vivienne Westwood AAS Fashion Show at FIT
Katherine Sharpe
Last night I had the good fortune to attend the end-of-program exhibition of the Fashion Design AAS students at FIT here in New York. The students have been working all semester to design and create fashions inspired by the doyenne of British haute-punk style, Vivienne Westwood---and now they're on display in the fashion school's Great Hall. Some of their creations were pretty impressive (and I even spotted a very ReadyMade-like use of salvaged bottle corks as part of a decadent necklace). Several images after the jump!
I was there because of this lady. She's my sister, she's graduating from FIT this month, and she is obviously the REAL maker in the family! It's been amazing to watch her work on this project for months, drawing and sewing and shaping and re-shaping metal night after night. I don't think about clothing the way that I used to.
This is her creation: black silk cocktail dress with tulle, birds, and wire cage. In person, the birds have amber crystal eyes!
I once read a wise person write that real fashion is about making the onlooker slightly uncomfortable---that that slight (or in some cases, not so slight) in-your-face quality is what it's all about. This outfit reminded me of that.
The ReadyMade notable mention of the night goes to this wine-cork neckpiece. The dresses---and there are many, many more---are on view now through December 6 at the John E. Reeves Great Hall at FIT in New York City.
