Stylenik intern Ashley Castanos is getting her MFA in fashion journalism at Academy of Art Universtiy. This post originally appeared on the school’s blog, where you can see more photos of fashions from the show.
For my second stint at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week I was most eager to see what the Academy of Art University had to bring. I arrived at Lincoln Center on Friday evening with the stylish boyfriend in tow, decked in our finest fashion forward outfits. The lobby was abuzz with the newest Mercedes Benz models (the car kind) on display, a VIP cocktail lounge and a swarm of photographers in a frenzy over the hottest celebrity to walk in the room.
Once the theatre doors opened I wormed my way into the second row and waited anxiously for the show to begin. The French Textile Collection was the first to present, this was a collaboration sponsored by UBIFRANCE, the French Trade Commission, and designed by eleven fashion students consisting of four MFA Fashion Design students, five BFA Fashion Design students and two BFA Textile Design students. There were a variety of edgy prints, colorful pieces and statement dresses.
The show then proceeded with eight women’s wear collections. I was surprised to find that all of the designers were women. I was thoroughly impressed with the impeccable tailoring on most of the garments. Iglika Vasileva Matthews is definitely a designer to look out for. All of her suede pieces were wearable and extremely chic. I couldn’t help o0o-ing and ah-ing at the beautiful dark green and turquoise silk suits designed by Jisun Lee with textiles by Liza Quiñones. Yanfei Fan did an incredible job of presenting bold contemporary checkerboard looks with the use of feminine feathers and tailored silk.
