3,952 Saudi women gather to achieve the Guinness World Record for the largest human awareness
ribbon. Photo Courtesy of Renia Rezek.

Her Royal Highness Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud was raised and educated in Washington, D.C. where she earned her bachelor’s degree from George Washington University. In 2002, she returned to Saudi Arabia and partnered with well-known Women’s Day Spa, Yibreen, chosen as one of the Top 20 Arabian Companies in 2007 and 2008. For her work with Yibreen, Princess Reema was named one of the Top 20 Arab Businesswomen in 2008.

She is now the president and chief executive of ALFA International and AL HAMA LLC, two leading luxury retail corporations in Saudi Arabia that own and operate Harvey Nichols Department Store in Riyadh, as well as manage the Donna Karan and DKNY brands. Her latest business venture is Bara Boux, an accessories collection whose aesthetic and functionality is based on the classic Bedouin values of time, space, and all-encompassing hospitality.

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Photo Courtesy of Philip Treacy/Kevin Davies.

Philip Treacy was born in County Galway in the West of Ireland, and grew up with his parents and seven brothers and sisters across the street from a small church. As a young child, he was inspired by churchgoers in their Sunday best, and began making clothes and hats for his sisters’ dolls.

As a teenager he moved to Dublin to study fashion at the National College of Art & Design, where he made hats to compliment the clothes he designed in his classes. When he had to arrange for an apprenticeship, he chose to spend six weeks with the London hat designer Stephen Jones. He then went on to the Royal College of Art in London, where he pioneered their millinery program. During his time in London, he met Isabella Blow, who took an immediate liking to Treacy and his hats. They shared an affinity for the eccentric, and she asked him to design a hat for her wedding, in keeping with the medieval theme of her dress.

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Illustration by Gladys Perint Palmer.

We are just one week away from the Graduation Fashion Show and Awards Ceremony – and we’ve got some other amazing events lined up to kick off the festivities! Be sure to mark your calendars for the following events – you definitely don’t want to miss them.

Monday, April 30^th
9:00 – 11:00 AM
Trend Union Fall / Winter 2013-2014
St. Brigid Church – 2151 Van Ness Avenue
Trend Union presents their forecast of fashion and style trends for Fall/Winter 2013-2014. The presentation will detail silhouettes, colors, patterns, and lifestyles for the season. Academy of Art University ID is required for admittance.

Wednesday, May 2^nd
9:30 – 11:00 AM
School of Fashion Symposium with Guests of Honor
Morgan Auditorium – 491 Post Street
Gladys Perint Palmer, Executive Director, hosts a discussion and Q&A with Dr. Elisa Stephens, President of the Academy of Art University; Simon Ungless, Director of the School of Fashion; Guest of Honor Sarah Burton, Creative Director of Alexander McQueen; and Guest of Honor Philip Treacy, milliner.

Thursday, May 3^rd
3:00 – 4:00 PM
University Friends and Family Fashion Show
The Cannery – 2801 Leavenworth Street
The University Friends and Family Fashion Show, hosted by the School of Fashion, is open to all students and faculty from the Academy of Art University. Transportation is available through University shuttles.

Today is Jean Paul Gaultier’s 60th Birthday! The designer has had quite the year – continuing to break down boundaries in fashion, a new post as the creative director of Diet Coke, and the opening of his exhibit at the de Young Museum. We were so honored to have him as our guest at the School of Fashion, it was such an unforgettable experience.

We hope he has a fantastic birthday!!

Photo Courtesy of David Burton/Associated Press.

School of Fashion guest of honor Sarah Burton was raised and attended school in Manchester, England. She completed foundation courses at Manchester Polytechnic before moving to London to study fashion at Central St. Martin’s College of Art and Design. While at St. Martin’s, she completed a year-long internship with Alexander McQueen.

After graduating from St. Martin’s in 1997, she returned to McQueen and was subsequently appointed the head of women’s wear in 2000. She worked side by side with McQueen for over 10 years, a valuable learning experience for the young designer. “Everything I know I learnt here. If you didn’t know how to do something, Lee made you take on the challenge and would teach you how, or leave you to figure out how to do it yourself,” she remembers. McQueen trusted her implicitly, even calling her “his secret weapon.”

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Sarah Burton, creative director of Alexander McQueen, and Philip Treacy, milliner.

We hope you already know who they are – but in case you’ve been living under a rock the past month – we’re so excited to re-announce our 2012 Guests of Honor! We have a seriously amazing line-up this year: Sarah Burton, creative Director of Alexander McQueen, Philip Treacy, milliner, and Her Royal Highness Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud, president and CEO of the ALFA and AL HAMA luxury retail corporations which operate Harvey Nichols Department Stores, Donna Karan, and DKNY stores in Saudi Arabia.

Also joining us for the 2012 Graduation Fashion Show and Awards Ceremony will be 2010 Guest of Honor Suzy Menkes, OBE, fashion editor of the International Herald Tribune, and 2011 Guest of Honor Cathy Horyn, fashion critic for The New York Times. As well as Stephan Rabimov, editor-in-chief of Depesha, and Jayne Seward, fashion editor of California Apparel News.

Check Fashion School Daily all week long for bios, photos, videos and more – and get excited to meet our guests during all of the fashion show events!

We’ve got another video of Jean Paul Gaultier’s visit to the School of Fashion! This vid, shot by students from the School of Multimedia Communications, chronicles not only the opening presentation, it also follows JPG on his tour through the school. As he visited classes, he stopped to speak with students about their work – admiring textiles, knits, prints, and more.

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Photo taken with Instagram.

In case you missed this momentous occasion – or you just want to watch the excitement again – we’ve got a video! Peep Jean Paul Gaultier as he enters the School of Fashion and is greeted by hundreds of adoring students and faculty, and as he talks to School of Fashion Executive Director Gladys Perint Palmer about creativity in the fashion industry. And be sure to head over to the De Young Museum to catch his exhibit, The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, it is a fantastic experience!

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Photo Courtesy of Caro Ramirez.

Yesterday, Jean Paul Gaultier visited the School of Fashion, creating what can only be described as a fashion frenzy. Students started filling up the building well before the 2:00 PM call time, all trying to stake out the best spots for his arrival. And when he did arrive, quite promptly actually – especially for fashion standards – students could not have been more excited. “It’s like we have royalty here,” Dr. Stephens said at one point, and in a way we kind of did – fashion royalty at least.

Gladys Perint Palmer talks about the magic of fashion with Jean Paul Gaultier. Photo Courtesy of FSD.

As he entered the atrium, students cheered wildly and everyone was snapping away on their smartphones – suffice it to say that the Twitterverse (and Instagram) lit up with JPG tweets and pics from the hundreds of students who were gathered. During the brief presentation, School of Fashion Executive Director Gladys Perint Palmer asked him to reflect on true creativity in fashion – how to harness it and make sure it survives. His reply came from the heart, “The most important thing in life is to have love – it has to be your passion.” He spoke of the need for originality as well: “When you do something different – people are surprised and they appreciate it. There is no point in doing something someone else has done.” He also talked about his grandmother, who sparked his interest in fashion at a young age and was a constant inspiration: “She taught me that you could say something through your dress, your hair and make-up. And that is what I try to do – to speak through the clothes.” Academy of Art University President, Dr. Elisa Stephens, presented Monsieur Gaultier with an Honorary Doctorate, which elicited a huge smile from the designer, “I never went to art school – I’m very happy. This is a big, big, big compliment.”

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In 1988, Jean Paul Gaultier created a house music album called, How to do that? The album’s tracks featured scraps of conversation from Gaultier and his team throughout the design process, during rehearsals, and backstage at the show, all pieced together and layered over electro beats, creating the perfect sartorial soundtrack.

And – even better – there is an accompanying music video shot by Jean Baptiste Mondino. The vid features super models, couture creations, and the Enfant Terrible himself all Vogueing for the camera. A must watch.

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