Cool Vs Cruel
Type of Place: Fashion
Description:
Wearing fur is a great idea--for the animals born with it. For the rest of us, there are other much better and kinder options. Excited by a good cause and the prospect of good fashion, my friend Kimberly and I arrived at the Humane Society's 4th-annual Cool Vs. Cruel fashion awards, which rewards the work of fashion-design students across the country who've decided that fur will not be figuring into their design plans.
The event--held at the very beautiful Bowery Hotel (if you haven't been there for a drink, go!)--did not disappoint. Kimberly and I toasted reknowned designer Marc Bouwer, who was one of the evening's honorees, as well as the student winners and their creations. We ogled the fluted brown strapless cocktail dress in chocolate satin with a ruched waistline by finalist Wajeeha Safraz of the Art Institute of Philadelphia; the gorgeous skirt-and-jacket set with a dramatically elegant "flower" neckline by finalist Trisha Megan Pasnak of the Art Institute of Vancouver; the tiered single-strap silver ballgown, its tiers hemmed with faux fur, by finalist Sarah Hunter of the Art Institute of Califoria, Hollywood (stars seeking an up-and-coming local designer for red-carpet garb, take note!); a sleek gold cocktail dress by finalist Xuefang Chang of the Art Inst of Portland; and a black lace gown with color underlay and a wonderful fabric=embelished hem by finalist Lyndsey Hayes of the Art Institute of Seattle.
3rd-place winner Melinda Yasmina Johnson, of the Art Institute of Dallas, stood proudly beside her toastily warm and dreamily welcoming cream-colored hooded overcoat, sewn from artist canvas and decorated with white paint. "I wanted to go back to the basics," she said, "with natural fabrics"--even the jacket's insulation, made from corn fiber, reflects this goal. Also luscious was the entry of 2nd-place winner Tatiana Zaykovskaya, of the Art Institute of California, San Diego: a metallic black tafetta gown with pleated straps, featuring gold dots on sides (a nod to leopard print, perhaps) that trailed down to stunning appliqued flower detail at the hem and sides.
And in the "humor and whimsy" category, we must praise finalist Rebecca Joseph, of the Art Institute of Charlotte, and her strapless gown made of paper, with a tissue-paper bodice and trim; and the Grand Prize winner, Gohar Rajab-Zadeh, of the Miami International University of Art and Design, for her blue and white faux-fur hooded cloak--bushier, wilder, and woolier than most wild animals out there.
With talented designers like these coming up, fur will be a thing of the past. Cheers to a chic future that's cruelty-free. - Pamela Grossman; Nov 16, 2008
Cool Vs Cruel
New York, NY
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