Daul Kim had a very strong presence. Her striking eyes glared down a runway as she walked effortlessly with sophistication and the perfect amount of allure.

She knew how to do her job. And she did it well.

The School of Fashion was sad to hear of Daul’s death. Next agency confirmed that the 20-year old model was found dead in her Paris apartment this morning. The agency said in a statement “She was a top model and a great friend to all of us at Next. Please respect her family’s privacy at this time of sadness. We will all miss her very much.”

Born in Seoul, South Korea, Daul modeled at esteemed shows such as Chanel, Dries Van Noten, Margiela, and Lacoste. We were more than happy to have her model in a handful of School of Fashion shows including the San Francisco graduation fashion show in April 2007 and our New York Fashion Week shows in September 2007 and February 2008.

“She was a true creative spirit who was equally an artist and a model”, said Director of Fashion Simon Ungless. “She always asked how our young designers were doing and was genuinely interested in their conceptual process and how a design was created.”

View a slideshow of Daul from our runways shows. (All photos by Randy Brooke).

Academy of Art University and eco-friendly wine producer, French Rabbit, challenged University students to create works of art, products, sculpture and fashion pieces inspired by and using the French Rabbit environmentally friendly packaging. Jean Charles Boisset, president of Boisset America, awarded scholarships to the winners of this challenge.

Dulce Chavez designed the “armor” dress.

Jackie Lee-Nakayama and Sarah Alvidrez, School of Fashion, designed the dress dubbed by fashion designer Loulou de la Falaise as the “bubble dress” and covered in the May 6th edition of San Francisco Chronicle.

Ashleigh Tucker created the “shredded” dress design that ended up in the pages of the May 17th issue of SF IS.

Rhiannon Hartig designed the orange and purple “molecule” dress.

Aisha Drake, Helen Jang and Megan Rork created the silver and green “lace” dress.

Maho Fujita and Sook-Yeong Kwon designed the “ruffle” dress.

Evening “sequined” gown by Virgil Sparks, School of Fashion, landed the cover of the May 3rd Issue of FashionLines.com.

School of Fashion Announces Fashion Week Schedule of Events April 23rd – 28th, 2007

The School of Fashion has created its own ‘Fashion Week’ open to all university students.

Monday, April 23rd
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM – Fashion Merchandising Career Paths
Venue: Morgan Auditorium, 491 Post Street
Fashion merchandising career panel featuring Macy’s West. Discussion of the many fashion merchandising career paths within the areas of apparel, accessories, visual merchandising, and the business of beauty. Macy’s is the largest retail brand of Federated Department Stores, Inc., with more than 800 locations in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.

Wednesday, April 25th
4:00 PM – Media Panel Discussion
Venue: Morgan Auditorium, 491 Post Street
Panel includes:
- Robin Givhan, fashion editor of The Washington Post
- Titti Matteoni, editor-in-chief of Fashion magazine in Italy
- Ceslie Armstrong, award-winning editor, TV host and editor-in-chief of www.ceslie.com
- Elizabeth Varnell, style director of San Francisco magazine.
- Charlotte Lurot, director of Bacchus PR in London

Thursday, April 26th
11:00 AM – Worth Global Style Network Presentation
Venue: Morgan Auditorium, 491 Post Street
WGSN is the world’s leading online research, trend analysis and news service for the fashion and style industries. Website: www.wgsn.com.

3:00 PM – Fashion Symposium
Venue: Morgan Auditorium, 491 Post Street
Panel includes:
- Loulou de la Falaise
- Robin Givhan
- Zac Posen
- Charlotte Lurot, director of Bacchus PR in London

Friday, April 27th
3:00 PM – Graduation Fashion Show - Open to all students, staff and public.
Venue: 601 Brannan Street @ 5th Street

7:00 PM – Industry Fashion Show and Awards Ceremony - By invitation only.
Venue: 601 Brannan Street @ 5th Street

Saturday, April 28th
3:00 PM – Fashion Show - Open to all students, staff and public.
Venue: 601 Brannan Street @ 5th Street
Special guest from Bravo TV’s Project Runway.

The School of Fashion takes pride in bringing important fashion leaders to the University for the student body to gain firsthand knowledge of the fashion industry from those who have succeeded in their various roles including design, merchandising, and journalism. Guests of honor have included Azzedine Alaïa; Wilkes Bashford; Rose Marie Bravo; Oscar de la Renta; Christophe Girard, Deputy Mayor of Paris Responsible for Culture, and Director of Fashion Strategy of the LVMH Fashion Group; Joan Kaner, formerly of Neiman Marcus; Alexander McQueen; Robert L. Mettler, Chairman & CEO of Macy’s West; Rosita and Tai Missoni; Zandra Rhodes CBE; Carla Sozzani; and most recently Dame Vivienne Westwood DBE.

At the Friday, April 27th Graduation Fashion Show and Awards Ceremony, the School of Fashion will honor fashion icon Loulou de la Falaise, Pulitzer Prize winning fashion editor, Robin Givhan of The Washington Post, and fashion designer Zac Posen.