When Windows Are Doorways
Signs you’ve hit the big time at warp speed: Debut in a blockbuster. Have your first short story printed in the New Yorker. Sign a record deal after having only sung in the shower. Or--as several young designers did this week--launch your first line at Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.
For the past six seasons, a select group of students from Otis College of Art and Design’s School of Fashion Design have been featured for two weeks of fame in two of the toniest windows in town. Handpicked by Albert Urbano, head of visual display at Neiman Marcus, and Michael Bewley of Saks-Beverly Hills, the neophyte designers have their moment on a stage usually reserved for fashion’s biggest names. “At first I thought I was out of the loop,” said a woman walking past Neiman’s window. “I thought to myself, ‘Who is this hot new name?’ ”
The student windows are the brainchild of Nancy Vreeland (her husband, Tim, is son of late Vogue editor Diana), who chairs the Critics Awards Fashion Show, the annual year-end School of Fashion Design fund-raiser.
Vreeland had her own fashion business in the ‘70s and, she recalls, “The most exciting thing I experienced was seeing my work in shop windows around the nation. I thought it would be incredible to give these students the thrill of having such a public forum.”
At the beginning of each year, design teams of 12 to 15 students are matched with top designers. The assignments are the same professional design problems given to assistant designers at the Seventh Avenue houses. The mentors return at key points during the year to review the work.
This year, 11 designer-mentors participated, including Randolph Duke from Halston, Anne Cole, Dean Michelwhite of DKNY Menswear and designers from St. John and Anne Klein.
After months of preparation--sketching and fabrication, fittings and edits--designs that pass muster with the industry mentors, about 175 ensembles, are modeled before a jury of designers, Otis alumni and faculty, and the best are chosen for the Critics Awards Fashion Show. This year’s ceremony was held earlier this month at the Beverly Hilton.
That is the ultimate goal--to see your design in the show--says senior Jennifer Tong, whose assignment was to design Halston evening wear under Duke’s supervision. So, naturally, she was dismayed when her creation was deemed a bit too fresh to embody the essence of Halston. Smashing as her red satin raincoat looked draped over a hand-fashioned cable-knit sweater and red satin Capri pants, the outfit was rejected for the fashion show.
Still, Tong’s talent is undeniable. She was named Otis Designer of the Year--and her Halston reject made it into the Neiman Marcus and Saks windows.
That, she says, “more than made up for not getting in the jury show. In fact, it may even be better!” Eight other gowns and five swimsuits were also selected for display for a week at Neiman Marcus, where windows were recently dismantled, and a week at Saks, where they’ll remain until Wednesday.
Tong interviewed with St. John, but her ultimate dream is to design her own line of “true American sportswear.”
She is off to a running start. The satin organza raincoat sold to a Neiman Marcus window shopper. But the capri pants--designed for a size 4, 5-foot-11-inch model--haven’t found a buyer. And the sweater? It’s just “too yummy” for her to part with, says Tong.
