NEW YORK, Jan 25, 2010 / FW/ — The only school that holds its graduation collection at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, the Academy of Art University once again brings its outstanding recent graduation for the Fall 2010 season.
On Saturday, February 13th at 3:00 PM, six womenswear collections from the Fashion, Knitwear, Technical, and Textile Design programs will be presented in The Tent at Bryant Park.
Hyo Sun (Nicky) An, Sabah Mansoor, Bethany Meuleners, Steven Oo, Marina Solomatnikova, and Naomi Sutton will make their debut on the New York runways under the auspices of their alma mater.
Hyo Sun (Nicky) An
MFA Fashion Design
Birthplace: Busan, South Korea
Materials: wool, wool jersey, rayon jersey
Nicky set out to design clothes with fluid amorphous boundaries. She looked at non-orientable surfaces such as the Möbius strip (a ring with an indistinguishing interior and exterior) and the Klein bottle (mathematician Felix Klein’s vessel that cannot be filled) to create her collection of encircling strips.
Sabah Mansoor
MFA Fashion and Knitwear Design
Birthplace: Bangalore, India
Materials: felted merino wool, felted alpaca wool, mohair, crystals
Sabah’s knitwear collection combines an eclectic set of techniques derived from both craft and design. She drew from traditional methods of felting fabrics, crochet, hand embroidery and Shibori (a Japanese technique of dyeing a pattern by binding, stitching, folding, twisting or compressing fabric). Sabah also added jewel details to her entirely black and charcoal collection. Inspired by chandeliers, she worked with an artisan in Firozabad, India developing the jewel-shaped crystals.
Bethany Meuleners
MFA Fashion and Knitwear Design
Birthplace: US Army Base in West Point, New York
Materials: wool, metallic lace, silk chiffon, mohair
Bethany layered knits and wovens while envisioning a young girl playing dress up, throwing on several layers and letting them land off-kilter. Futurist photography and Duchamp’s painting Nude Descending a Staircase also inspired her collection.
Steven Oo
MFA Fashion and Knitwear Design
Birthplace: Yangon, Myanmar
Materials: merino wool
The lines of Italian architect Massimiliano Fuksas influenced Steven’s knitwear collection. Steven translated Fuksas’ curves into drapes and the buildings’ repetition into textures and cutout details. He combined several hand and hand-machine knitting techniques to create structure, weight, ribbing, and texture.
Marina Solomatnikova
MFA Fashion Design
Birthplace: Revda, Russia
Materials: silk and suede
Recipient of Russia’s Couturier of the Year Award in 2004 and the Russian Silhouette Award in 2003, Marina was inspired by Georgia O’Keefe’s paintings and interpreted the tough and fragile multi-layered landscapes by incorporating pleats and trapunto quilting throughout her collection.
Naomi Sutton
MFA Fashion and Textile Design
Birthplace: LeCenter, Minnesota
Materials: cotton, silk organza, wool, wool jersey, velvet
In partnership with BFA Technical Design students: Lindsey Gong, Jackie Nguyen, Kendy Morton and I-Wen Chen who made the patterns and sewed the garments.
Drawing on her BFA in printmaking, Naomi used the raw quality of intaglio etchings as inspiration for her prints. Her prairie silhouette draws from ’70s Laura Ashley, 19th century undergarments, and her childhood growing up on a hobby farm.
Academy of Art University School of Fashion
180 New Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
Tel: 800-544-2787
