We hope that some of you were able to stop by the De Young Museum this weekend for the Discarded to Divine preview – but for those of you who couldn’t make it, we’ve got another way to preview the designs! This year, they are holding a People’s Choice Twitter Contest, giving the people a chance to vote for their favorite pieces. You can view all of the looks on the Discarded to Divine Flickr page, and then cast your vote with a Tweet! Just be sure to include the designer’s name and lot number, as well as @discardd2divine and @deyoungmuseum.

They’ll be counting votes up until the night of the gala, on Thursday, April 26th. For more info or to buy tickets, go to www.discardedtodivine.org.

We’ve been showing you some of the amazing Jury Award winning designs by our students for the annual Discarded to Divine fundraiser, and tonight you can see them in person! Friday Nights at the de Young is putting on a one-night-only preview of the 2012 Discarded to Divine couture creations and home décor.

Designers and students created pieces inspired by the de Young Museum’s sensational exhibits, including The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, as well as the permanent collection. They will be showcased in the Piazzoni Murals Room and Wilsey Court beginning at 6:00 PM. And at 6:30, local band the Fashion Slaves will hit the stage so you can dance the night away.

And did we mention it’s free?!

WHAT: Friday Nights at the de Young – Discarded to Divine Preview

WHEN: Firday, April 13th from 6:00 – 8:00 PM

WHERE: De Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive

Our final Discarded to Divine Jury Award Winner is Zonic Kwong – who took home the prize in the Men’s Clothing and Accessories category!

Zonic Kwong’s men’s wear jacket, “Made In America”.

Name: Zonic Kwong

Major: Menswear Fashion Design

Hometown: Hong Kong

What materials did you use and was it easy to work with them?
My design was made with a combination of five discarded items. It includes a medium weight tweed wool jacket, flannel/brushed cotton button up shirt, a striped cotton poplin shirt, a vest and a suspender with leather back patch. The fabrics are mostly medium weight, so they were pretty stable to work with – expect for some of the seam areas when the fabrics are stacked and sewn together, they needed a little extra attention.

What inspired your design?
My inspiration was first sparked by Anti-Mass from Michael Daigian Design installation at the de Young Museum. It is a beautiful art piece that contains a combination several pieces of burnt wood from a church floating in the air. I just couldn’t take my eyes away from it and it put me into a deep thought. I was thinking just how amazing it can be to use things that people see as rubbish and transform them into a beautiful art piece. This also carries out the idea of the Discarded to Divine concept. So I started my research on the the word fractured because of the broken pieces of woods, and I thought about how Michael Daigian transformed these burnt pieces of wood that others see as rubbish into something beautiful and amazing, and who else in real life can take fractured pieces and put them back together?

So my main inspiration came from the detective hero that we see in old time movies. Detectives saw the consquences of an event, and they are able to tell you the reason for it, by tracing back how everything was connected at the first place and how things happen in a sequence. It is just like solving a fractured puzzle by putting everything together to create a beautiful picture. Therefore, this project was based on the old time detectives style; London, late Victorian to early 19th century period when men like to wear their shirt collars standing up. The jacket incorporated this idea; it is supposed to be worn with the collar standing up. Hook and eye was used in the center front closure, so after the front is buttoned up, it’ll show a smooth way down with the standing collar. Moreover, as the front was close, people can still see the style on the sides.

Follow the jump to read more! Read more…

Today’s Discarded to Divine Jury Award Winner is Yufei Li, who won first place in the Lamps – Home Décor category!

Name: Yufei Li

Major: BFA Fashion Design

Hometown: China

What materials did you use and was it easy to work with them?
I experimented with the prints on various fabrics to see how it would turn out. Then found out silk, organza, and straw paper were the best pieces for my lantern.

What inspired your design?
The abstract style of Picasso. And my personal illusion….

What was the most challenging aspect of the project?
Cutting 12 perfect pieces to go along with the lantern then glue them on!

Follow the jump to read more! Read more…

Today, we continue our profiles of Discarded to Divine Jury Award Winners with James Andy Thai, whose pillow took top honors in the Home Décor category!

James Andy Thai’s ”Familiarity Unknown”, which took the Jury Prize for Pillows
in the Home Décor category.

Name: James Andy Thai

Major: BFA Textile Design

Hometown: Danville, CA

What materials did you use and was it easy to work with them?
I used a beige cotton fabric that was pretty easy to work with.

What inspired your design?
I was inspired by a painting by Theresa Bernstein called In the Elevated. The pillow shows the point of view of four of the passengers in the painting on the corners. The idea of the pillow is that we recognize people on a daily basis but we don’t know anything about them – like the guy begging for change on the corner of the street or even our classmates; which is why I used the Girl With a Pearl Earring because everyone recognizes her face but no one really knows anything about her.

Follow the jump to read more! Read more…

Discarded to Divine is the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s annual fashion fundraiser, where fashion students, designers, and artists are given discarded fabrics and clothing and asked to make something beautiful out of them. Each year we are amazed at what people come up with, especially our students! This year, four School of Fashion students were selected as Award Winners by the distinguished jury of artists and design and fashion industry professionals. We’ll be posting quick interviews with the winners all week, starting today with Yoyo Huang! And be sure to stop by Friday Nights at the De Young this week to preview all of the designs!

Name: Yoyo Huang

Major: BFA Fashion Design

Hometown: China

What materials did you use and was it easy to work with them?
My materials included the used sweater that had been donated and given to me on the day of the Discarded to Divine 2012 presentation. Then I unraveled it. It was a slouchy cardigan, so I could only work with its complete back piece and two sleeves. I turned the two sleeves into the back piece of my African monkey knitwear dress and used the back piece as the front piece of my knitwear dress. Then I did the silk screen printing on top of these pieces. Lastly, I machine-knit the collar and bottom sections. It was just fun to play with the materials and turn it into my own style.

What inspired your design?
A monkey sculpture in African Art area of the de young museum.

Follow the jump to read more! Read more…

Photo Courtesy of Life Magazine.

Wednesday, April 4th
5:00 – 8:00 PM
Fashionably 1 Wednesdays Industry Mixer
Temple SF – 540 Howard Street
Fashionably 1st Wednesdays is a monthly industry mixer where fashion and technology lovers can meet up, network, and enjoy a few cocktails. This month, they are also kicking off the San Francisco Fashion Film Festival! RSVP here.

April 7th – 8th
San Francisco Fashion Film Festival
Roxie Theater
The first annual San Francisco Fashion Film Festival will present a curated selection of independent, documentary, and dramatic films that provide a new perspective on what it means to be stylish in the cinema. You can check out the full schedule and buy tickets here!

April 8th – 14th
Spring Recess

Friday, April 13th
6:00 – 8:00 PM
Discarded to Divine Public Preview
De Young Museum
This week’s Friday Nights at the De Young includes a complimentary preview of the 2012 Discarded to Divine creations, and will also feature a live performance by Bay Area band The Fashion Slaves. The 2012 collection includes designs by School of Fashion students and alumni. The event is free and open to the public.

Friday, April 20th
6:00 – 8:00 PM
New Generations Student Showcase
De Young Museum
The New Generations Student Showcase is a juried selection of multidisciplinary work created by students from the San Francisco Bay Area. This year’s theme was Matter! – a one word manifesto encompassing everything that truly matters in our lives. Students will be exhibiting works of art as well as presenting live performances. The event is free and open to the public.

Follow the jump to read more! Read more…

Discarded to Divine is looking for a Design Collection Management Intern! Duties would include managing the Discarded to Divine collection at the St. Vincent de Paul Offices on Van Ness, and assisting at events in the spring (the main event is on April 26, 2012). They are looking for someone to start in early January, working through mid-May, and able to commit 15 to 20 hours per week. The internship is unpaid, but it is a great opportunity for anyone looking to gain experience in event planning, fashion, home décor, design & merchandising, and the non-profit sector.

Qualifications:

• Intern should have strong administrative skills. Working knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel and Publisher with experience using templates, graphic objects and mail merge to produce professional looking documents.
• Impeccable organization skills.
• Graphic Design skills, preferably proficient with Adobe Illustrator and/or InDesign (or at least one of the above).
• Should have some fashion design or merchandising experience (seams, dress forms, etc.)
• Must be able to commit to approximately 15-20 hours per week, to be arranged Monday-Friday between 10am to 5pm. Some work may be performed remotely as the internship progresses.
• Intern for this position must be available to work all day and into the evening on Friday, April 13, Wednesday, April 25 (daytime) and Thursday April 26 (evening hours). Intern will be needed certain days in February yet to be determined and flexibility with schedule a plus.
• Ability to take the initiative, to work independently and with little supervision.
• Access to a personal computer with a high-speed internet connection, email and Office software.

To Apply:

Submit a Letter of Intent, Resume and 3 References to Heather Ripley, Event Coordinator at hripley@svdp-sf.org

Discarded to Divine, which many of our students have participated in, is selling past creations on Monday, Novemeber 14th and Friday, November 18th. These dresses are so gorgeous – would be so amazing to have a one-of-a-kind piece!!

WHEN: November 14th and November 18th, 1:00 – 5:00 PM

WHERE: St. Vincent de Paul Society of San Francisco Office – 1237 Van Ness Avenue at Sutter Street, Suite 200

For the first time ever, Discarded to Divine is holding a Designer Orientation, this Saturday, October 1, at 9 am. There will be two distinguished guest speakers: Jill D’Alessandra, Curator of Textile Arts for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francsico, and Adam Elsholz, Campus Librarian at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. At the end of the program, designers can pick up their registration forms and the donated fabrics/materials to be used for Discarded to Divine 2012. Be sure to bring your own bag!

When: Saturday, October 1 at 9 am
Where: California College of the Arts – 1111 Eighth St. (at 16th St.) – San Francisco
RSVP: Must RSVP by Thursday, September 29th – to Heather Ripley, Event Coordinator at hripley@svdp-sf.org, or call 415-977-1270, ext. 3079

And the dates for this year’s Discarded to Divine:
Deadline to Submit: Monday, January 9, 2012
Sneak Preview Event: Friday, April 20, 2012 @ de Young Museum
Discarded to Divine Gala: Thursday, April 26, 2012 @ the SF Design Center

We have had many students participate in the past and some have even won in their category – lets keep up the tradition!