INclass:

Art Institute of New York

The yearly show at the Art Institute of New York has become a much awaited rite of passage for the 100’s of graduating students who pass through the halls of this Tribeca based 2 year institution each Spring.  Held in a massive hall just north on Sixth Avenue, this year’s edition was entitled “Xposed” & to drive the thematic point home, the invitations were clear, the runway was a “X” shape & the back stage walls were lowered to just over 5 feet to allow the audience to experience the contrast of the relative calm of the front of house activities versus the behind the scenes mayhem.

In a strong showing of 59 looks from 23 different student designers, the collections reflected the range of abilities & the equally diverse range of aesthetics that AI develops during the students’ 8 quarters of study.  While some looks bordered on the extreme, none of them crossed the line to costume as is sometimes the case in student based shows.  I suspect that much of these lookswere “weeded out”, if you will, during the industry professional judging sessions that were used to choose the looks that made the stroll down the catwalk.  However they were chosen seems irrelevant, as the results were of a level of professionalism that certainly placed the Art Institute among the schools in New York to be seriously considered.  While the design acumen of every collection was not ready for the real world, there truly were some standout collections.

Most notable among them were Galan Mitas (photo #1) who won two of the three “best of” categories, those being “Most Creative” & “Best Overall Collection” with her show-stopping collection of distressed leather & layered chiffons that were like a soft take onmedieval armor, Mary Chhoun, who won the third “best of” , the “Most Marketable” with her grown up collection of professional office worthy separates in various shades of gray, Vikky Nulman (see the lead image on the Communiqué page) who showed two capsule collections one inspired by the South West & the other by Japanese modern architecture, Abigail Blatt (photo #2) with an incredibly sophisticated take on wit & humor with her collection inspired by music notes & safety pins, Lauren Ostek (photo #3) with the most sophisticated (read “understated”) collection of the evening & Graehme Field (photo #4) who closed the show with a take on deconstructed evening wear replete with feathers & hand beaded powernet mesh.

-Scott French

The Art Institute Website