Academy of Art University’s School of Fashion turns heads and makes noise in the industry. See what members of the fashion press have to say about our degree programs, student work, fashion shows, and alumni.
Fashion Press
Kenneth Nicholson, Academy Fashion School Grantee, Dresses Lewis Hamilton at MET Gala
Kenneth Nicholson, Academy Fashion School student and grantee, is a recent CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund grant recipient, a newly inducted CFDA member, and 2021 CFDA Fashion Awards nominee for American Emerging Designer of the Year. He also dressed British race-car driver Lewis Hamilton for this month’s Met Gala. Read about Nicholson’s journey and his interview with the LA Times via the link below.
CFDA Selects Academy Fashion Student Sadarryle Stephens for FFGS21
The goal of the CFDA Fashion Future Graduate Showcase ’21 is to help provide visibility to the creativity of the Class of 2021 who through their ingenuity, talent and potential have already demonstrated resiliency graduating into a professional landscape of unknown futures while agilely navigating the impacts of COVID- 19. View Sadarryle Stephens’ profile and collection via the link below.
CFDA Selects Academy Fashion Student Rachela Tiody for FFGS21
The goal of the CFDA Fashion Future Graduate Showcase ’21 is to help provide visibility to the creativity of the Class of 2021 who through their ingenuity, talent and potential have already demonstrated resiliency graduating into a professional landscape of unknown futures while agilely navigating the impacts of COVID- 19. View Rachela Tiody’s profile and collection via the link below.
CFDA Selects Academy Fashion Student Ju Ju Win for FFGS21
The goal of the CFDA Fashion Future Graduate Showcase ’21 is to help provide visibility to the creativity of the Class of 2021 who through their ingenuity, talent and potential have already demonstrated resiliency graduating into a professional landscape of unknown futures while agilely navigating the impacts of COVID- 19. View Ju Ju Win’s profile and collection via the link below.
CFDA Selects Academy Fashion Student Jaclyn Shahan for FFGS21
The goal of the CFDA Fashion Future Graduate Showcase ’21 is to help provide visibility to the creativity of the Class of 2021 who through their ingenuity, talent and potential have already demonstrated resiliency graduating into a professional landscape of unknown futures while agilely navigating the impacts of COVID- 19. View Jaclyn Shahan’s profile and collection via the link below.
CFDA Selects Academy Fashion Student Catherine Rodriguez for FFGS21
The goal of the CFDA Fashion Future Graduate Showcase ’21 is to help provide visibility to the creativity of the Class of 2021 who through their ingenuity, talent and potential have already demonstrated resiliency graduating into a professional landscape of unknown futures while agilely navigating the impacts of COVID- 19. View Catherine Rodriguez’s profile and collection via the link below.
CFDA Interviews Fashion School Executive Director Simon Ungless on The Future of Fashion Education
From professors to mentors and designers themselves, fashion educators play a critical role in the lives and careers of many fashion talents and industry professionals. The CFDA spoke with Simon Ungless, Executive Director of the Academy’s School of Fashion, to discuss the future of fashion education. Read the full article via the link below.
BFA Fashion Alumna Anna Zhou joins cast of new season of Project Runway
Hailing from Shanghai, Anna Zhou received her degree in fashion design at the Academy. After jobs with brands like Marchesa, she founded her own line, ORAZ, during the global pandemic. She even has managed to launch two seasonal collections that were featured in WWD. Zhou is one of the sixteen designers stepping into the workroom on Bravo’s Project Runway for season nineteen. Read the full article in ET via the link below.
CFDA Announces MFA Fashion designer Milijana Delic as the winner of the Geoffrey Beene Scholarship
The Geoffrey Beene Design Masters Scholar Award for MFA/MA students challenges codes of conventional construction and celebrates the embrace of shape and form exploration, materiality, creativity, and innovation in fashion design. Congratulation to Academy Fashion design scholar Milijana Delic for winning this prestigious award. Read the full CFDA Annual Report via the link below.
Fashion Alumna Chelsea Grays Spotlighted by HIGHSNOBIETY
HIGHSNOBIETY focused on eight brands they are eyeing at Project Las Vegas, and selected Fashion alumna Chelsea Grays as one of their highlights. PROJECT Las Vegas takes place August 9-11 at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and will showcase the best in men’s and women’s contemporary brands. Read the full article via the link below.
BFA Textile Design Graduate Krithika Sengottaiyan Wins NASDAQ Design Competition
NASDAQ recently partnered with ARTS THREAD and met global artists creating artwork that represents their purpose as an organization. Access to opportunity, prosperity through participation, and the power of partnership are just a few themes at the core of NASDAQ’s goals. Academy of Art BFA Textile Design Graduate Krithika Sengottaiyan was announced as one of the winners of the design competition. Read Krithika’s full feature via the link below.
CFDA Interviews Fashion Alumna Susan Zienty on Slow Fashion Brand
The CFDA recently interviewed Academy Fashion alumna Susan Zienty on her new Slow Fashion brand. Zienty is a New York-based shoe and fashion designer, and was the recipient of the 2017 CFDA Liz Claiborne Scholarship Award. The following year she went on to receive the Kenneth Cole Footwear Innovation Award replete with a yearlong fellowship at Kenneth Cole Productions. Since then, Zienty has been busy building her own eponymous label featuring custom, silk-centric garments and accessories inspired by family legacy and mindful design. Read the full interview via the link below.
Congratulations to Knitwear Graduate Fang Guo for being Featured in Vogue
In the debut campaign video for Fang, a new, queer-focused knitwear line launched last month, a group of models are seen dancing, swimming, and playing cards in Joshua Tree, California. Guo—who is from Beijing, but now lives in New York—got the idea for the Fang in the early 2010s, while he was a fashion student at the Academy. Read the full article in Vogue via the link below.
Congratulations to Fashion School alumni Eden Slezin for his collaboration with Nicole Ritchie
Congratulations to Fashion School alumni Eden Slezin for his collaboration with Nicole Ritchie and her label House of Harlow 1960. Ritchie partnered with Etsy to launch a limited edition collection in collaboration with a select few artists. Slezin created the gorgeous Pajama Shirt, Caftans, Robes and Scarves in the collection. Read more about the collection in Elle via the link below.
Congratulations to Fashion School Alumni Chelsea Grays for her recent interview in no kill Magazine
After a year spent in Paris doing an extended study at École de la Chambre Syndicale, Chelsea Gray’s latest collection was one of no kill Magazine’s favorites this past fashion week. Read the full no kill Magazine article via the link below.
Krithika Sengottaiyan, BFA Textile Design, Announced as Winner of The NASDAQ Design Competition
Congratulations to BFA Textile Design student Krithika Sengottaiyan for winning the NASDAQ design competition. The winning artwork will be recreated in large format and displayed at NASDAQ’s Times Square headquarters. Link to read the full ARTSTHREAD article below.
Congratulations to MFA fashion designer Sadarryle Stephens for her feature in ARTSTHREAD
Sadarryle shares her experience in the Academy of Art online fashion graduate program and discusses her thesis collection, Mother Drip. Link to read the full ARTSTHREAD article below.
Congratulations to MFA alum Chelsea Grays - Named one of 7 men's wear brands making their mark on American collections
Chelsea’s fall ’21 collection, homage to 2020, channels the year’s overarching themes, including COVID-19, police brutality, protests and voter rights. Link to view the WWD article below.
Amanda Gorman Wears Alexander McQueen Dress Inspired by Simon Ungless Designs
Amanda Gorman recently wore an exploded sleeve and asymmetric tiered hem trapeze-line dress with a trompe l’oeil print of photographic roses and Victorian lace inspired by Academy of Art University School of Fashion Executive Director, Simon Ungless designs. Link to view the post by British Vogue below.
Niya DeGroat 2020 Fashion Journalism MA Grad Celebrates Indigenous Fashion in ARTSTHREAD Interview
Niya DeGroat discusses his experience designing a magazine for contemporary Indigenous fashion for his thesis project, the hurdles indigenous designers face in the fashion industry and some amazing designers to watch. Link to read the full ARTSTHREAD interview below.
Congratulations to MFA Menswear graduate Chelsea Grays for her feature in VOGUE
Congratulations to 2019 Academy of Art MFA Menswear graduate, Chelsea Grays who is showing her new collection as part of New York Fashion week and was featured in VOGUE. Social consciousness and political activism have been an inextricable part of Chelsea’s brand story from the beginning and her eponymous label focuses on textile design, repurposed materials, gender fluidity, and social justice. Link to read the full article in VOGUE below.
Fashion Student Gabriella Weinkauf Discusses Online Study in ARTSTHREAD Interview
Congratulations to MFA Fashion student Gabriella Weinkauf for her recent interview with ARTSTHREAD. In this interview Gabriella discusses studying an online fashion postgraduate course and how she overcame the challenges of online study, as well as her experience designing her fashion collection Luminosus. Link to read Gabriella’s full interview with ARTSTHREAD below.
School Of Fashion In Partnership With Creatives Want Change Support Young Black Artists
“Our desire is to pave the way to train the next generation of fashion creatives without ignoring the racial divide that is apparent in the industry. As artists and educators, it is our responsibility to do our part to make that change and create opportunities,” states Dr. Elisa Stephens, President of Academy of Art University.
Fashion Student Kenneth Brody McCasland Dresses Zendaya for Vogue Hong Kong’s November Issue
Zendaya Stars On Vogue Hong Kong’s November Issue dressed by Fashion student Kenneth Brody McCalister. Read the full article in VOGUE by clicking the link below.
School of Fashion’s Chelsea Grays Designs New Collection from Paris
Chelsea Grays is not wasting any time spreading her wings and growing as a designer. From her student collection in the 2019 Spring Show, she’s now jetted off to the world’s fashion capital in Paris, France to work on her latest collection.
BFA Fashion Design Alum: Superstar Collaborator
Beyoncé, Pharrel, and Jonah Hill. These are just some of the big names Adidas has in their roster. Behind these names is another you must know about: Joe Chung, BFA Fashion Design alumnus, Adidas designer. Here he shares lessons learned in the industry, before and during the pandemic.
How Economics and Fashion Merchandising led to the LVMH Retail Excellence Program
Poppy Sun originally majored in Economics at University College London. However, this past May, she graduated with an Undergraduate degree in Fashion Merchandising from School of Fashion. Since her graduation in the spring, she has been accepted into the prestigious LVMH Retail Excellence program in China, where she currently lives.
