The School of Fashion, along with the School of Industrial Design, participated in the Monterey Bay Aquarium Art Challenge, sponsored by SF Gate. Students were asked to create works of art using the Monterey Bay Aquarium  banners from an installation at the Hyatt Hotel this past summer. Each School was asked to create a collection of pieces relevant to their given field.

Simon Ungless’ FSH 604- Fashion Design 3 class, which has a focus on design for environmental and social impact, took on the challenge – and they turned out some beautiful results! Students worked together to design pieces inspired by the beautiful seascapes at the aquarium. Iridescent dresses, ombre coats, and seaweed-like crocheted pieces added to the Under the Sea feeling of the collection.

SF Gate is holding a contest – asking readers which piece is their favorite. So head on over to SF Gate.com and vote for the ensemble that inspires you to take a trip down to Monterey – we know we sure want to!

Students Disscuss, Design, and Create

Follow the jump to see the final looks! Read more…

You’ve hopefully seen the beautiful window displays that some of our visual merchandising students created for the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel, and now we have some behind the scenes action!

The students, along with their instructor Martin Zanfardino, worked on the displays for months. They made sure that every last detail was perfect, and their hard work paid off – the displays turned out beautifully. Just the other day, the InterContinental Mark Hopkins team tweeted “@aaufashion The windows looked wonderful this year- the guests are loving them!” 

Follow the jump for photos – and videos – of the works in progress! And click here to see the final product! Read more…

Students from Flore Morton’s styling class took to the streets of San Francisco for their inspiration – literally. Students Hannah Tutton, Diana Byrd, and Brie Sloan, and photographer Anthony Rogers, created an editorial influenced by the Occupy SF movement (with the help of the gorgeous Svetlana from FORD Models). They celebrate the bohemian chic style of the movement’s best-dressed recessionistas, who maintain their sartorial splendor through it all!

Follow the jump to see the images! Read more…

On Thursday, December 15th, 2011, students from the School of Fashion unveiled their window displays at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel. Since 2005, visual merchandising students have worked with the hotel each year to create interior window displays that highlight the hotel’s rich and exciting history.

Three of the displays are located on the California level and one is located on the main level. The main level display is titled, “New Kids on the Block” and showcases new employees at the hotel. The geometric shapes create a modern display that contrasts beautifully with hotel’s vintage feel.

New Kids on the Block – By Gina Chou and Kevin Mihovich. L-R: Instructor Martin Zanfardino, Gina Chou, and Jim Cardosa

On the California level, the first display is “Greetings from the Mark”. Set against a beautiful background of the Mark Hopkins Hotel in the San Francisco skyline, vintage postcards cascade from a hand-constructed mailbox. The postcards tell stories of guests’ adventures at The Mark, dating all the way back to the 1930s. Many of the post-cards were bought online from vintage dealers, and give the display true meaning, as they are part of the hotel’s story.

Follow the jump to see more! Read more…

We are SO excited to finally announce this contest with ASSOULINE!

ASSOULINE, a leading publisher of luxury books, has recently released The Impossible Collection of Fashion. The book chronicles the 100 most iconic dresses of the 20th century, with text by Valerie Steele, Director and Chief Curator of the Museum at FIT. The “Impossible Collection” includes dresses from Cristobal Balenciaga, John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood, Yves Saint Laurent, and many more.

Contest Details:

In celebration of this book, ASSOULINE and the School of Fashion are holding a contest. We are asking all Academy of Art University students, “What would you include in your Impossible Collection of Fashion?” Students can submit a photograph or sketch of an original dress design or something created by another designer, with a brief explanation of why they think it deserves to be included in the Collection. All submissions can be sent to aaufashion@assouline.com.

Prize:

The Impossible Collection of Fashion will be donated to the Academy of Art University library in the name of the winning student, and the student will personally receive 3 books from Assouline’s CFDA Collection. This contest is only open to Academy of Art University students.

About Assouline:

Renowned for their highly original graphic concept, ASSOULINE books and luxury gift items are works of art that capture culture and bring it to life. The spirit and savoir-faire of the company have contributed to the creation of a unique and eclectic, chic and elegant brand that is immediately identifiable. ASSOULINE has published over one-thousand titles across international markets on subjects including fashion, art, architecture & design, gastronomy, photography, travel, and viticulture.

For more information & to view the entire Assouline collection, visit www.assouline.com.

Submissions for the Impossible Collection Contest will be accepted from

November 24th to December 15th, 2011

For details, rules, and regulations, visit www.facebook.com/academyofartfashion and www.facebook.com/assoulinepub

 BONNE CHANCE!

Below are some of the gorgeous dresses included in the Collection.

Paolo Iantorno is known for his beautiful shoes and fine Italian craftsmanship. His boutique on Fillmore Street is re-opening, and they are throwing a party to celebrate. Even more exciting, the boutique enlisted the help of some of our students to conceptualize and produce their advertising materials and window displays. The students in FSH-385 have been working away on this project, and we want to celebrate their hard work too! Be sure to stop by the party (or just check out the amazing window displays) this Friday, November 18th!

WHEN: Friday, November 18th from 6:00 to 9:00 PM

WHERE: Paolo Iantorno – 2000 Fillmore Street, San Francisco

WHAT: Harvesting Color – Natural Dye Demo and Book Signing
WHEN: Sunday, September 11, 2011: 11 am – 12 pm
WHERE: Flora Grubb Gardens

** It’s free! Just bring your own natural-fiber fabric

What’s your fibershed?

Author, educator, and textile artist Rebecca Burgess will teach us how to use the beautiful natural colors that derive from our place in the California Floristic Province (the land we call home, designated by flora not politics) to pigment our fabrics.

Bring a piece of natural-fiber white fabric from home to dye!

Please RSVP here so that Rebecca can provide enough dye sources for all.

After the workshop, Rebecca will be discussing and signing copies of her marvelous book, Harvesting Color (2011).

Similar to a watershed or foodshed, your fibershed is the area in your town or region that provides fibers and dye colors needed for textiles and clothing.

Rebecca’s work with local dyes and textiles – including growing, harvesting and processing her own dye ingredients – helps to bring the colors of fibershed to life.

Our textile design students are no stranger to the annual Stylesight competition. This year, Hyunjeong Jeong and Annalise Lundeen placed first and second respectively: Here’s a little bit more about the winners:

Hyunjeong Jeong
1st Prize Winner
$1,000 + Internship at Stylesight in London or New York

Hyunjeong was inspired by Stylesight’s F/W12 Digital Dimension theme. She used minimalistic lines and shapes with a warm palette to express dimensional depth. Hyungjeong was born and raised in Korea, and recently received her MFA in Textile Design at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Hyunjeong has been recently offered an internship from the Lesage Atelier in Paris.

Annalise Lundeen
2nd Prize Winner
Internship at Stylesight in London or New York

Annalise was born and raised in Loveland, Colorado moving to San Francisco for her BFA in Textile Design at the Academy of Art University. Constantly immersed and enamored with the world or art and fashion, she chose the Digital Dimensions theme and studied the Tundra and diamond cutting for inspiration.

Follow the jump to see their designs.
Read more…

The Business of Fashion created a great video dedicated to Hilary Alexander‘s 25 years of journalism on their Tumblr account. You can spot some big names in the industry in the video. Can you name some of them?

[Source: businessoffashion.tumblr.com]

This semester, visual merchandising students worked on a window project for the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel in San Francisco. Since 2005, the visual merchandising students worked with the hotel annually to create new, interior window displays; now it is slated to become a bi-annual project.

The three displays can be seen on the California Level and include the following themes: Art of the Mark (focusing on the history behind the artistic aspects of the hotel), Music at the Mark (featuring musicians that have performed at the hotel), and Hollywood and the Mark (highlights films that have been filmed in, from, or around the Mark). On the Lobby Level, there is the News from the Mark (shares the stories and experiences from employees), and an additional display that showcases the LEED® EBOM Gold Certification of the Mark’s sister hotel, the InterContinental San Francisco.

The unveiling was last Tuesday, May 17th. Instructors Martin Zanfardino and Russell Clower were on hand with students from FSH 472: Visual Merchandising 3. Congrats to the following students for a great job:

- Jefrey Jones
- Treia Young
- Danielle Wallis
- Pei-Ju Chen
- Elizabeth Barta
- Sae Jin Park
- Zhao Qi Wu
- Sye Hwa Kim
- Quincy Gholar

You can take a look at the displays at the InterContinental Hotel Mark Hopkins located at 1 Nob Hill in San Francisco. Check out the gallery below for more of their work:

For more info on the displays, visit www.intercontinentalmarkhopkins.com.

All photos by Connie Perez-Wong