Parsons vs F.I.T. - A Fashionista Face-Off

You got big dreams, You want fame? Well fame costs, And right here is where you start paying, In sweat. Those are the famous words from the movie FAME and how appropriate they seemed for last weekends 10th anniversary competition between the students of Parsons and FIT. Here's how it works: It's called the Fusions Fashion Show and each year 15 select students from each school get the opportunity to show 5 of their designs before a panel of judges. One student from each school is deemed the best at their school, and one school is considered the best as well.

This year Parsons The New School for Design reclaimed the title of Best Overall School after F.I.T. owned it for the previous two years. I personally think that the designers of both schools showed tremendous creativity and talent and cohesive mini-collections.

One overall trend seemed to be transformational clothing. Cowl necks became hoods, long skirts converted to miniskirts. (A trend that seems right on-point in an economic climate where a girl wants to get creative with what she's got.) At times this was very successful as with Eunsol Ansley Lee's gorgeous dress seen below. (Ms. Lee also won Best Designer from Parsons). At other times I thought more work could have been put into the craftsmanship of a garment than into a transformative function -without strong basic technique these additions run the risk of looking like gimmicks to camoflauge poor quality work. That being said the show rocked. I was utterly impressed by the level of talent and the potential of these student designers as well as the efficiency of the show. Directed by Jimmy Ramey and run by volunteers it started on time and ran smoothly...unlike most of the shows at Bryant Park. I look forward to seeing what comes next.

Eunsol Ansley Lee - Best Designer - Parsons
This dress was a magical creation exquisitely crafted.

Marc Sebastian Faiella - Best Designer - F.I.T.

Marc Sebastian Faiella - Best Designer - F.I.T.

The judges this year were: Mary Kate Steinmiller - Teen Vogue, Horacio Silva - New York Times Style Magazine, Chris Benz – Designer, Prabal Gurung – Designer, Malan Breton - Designer/Former Project Runway Contestant

And more looks from the show...