Re:d Magazine 2015

re:

cessful collaborative opera production.

New alumni discuss their work and the faculty and processes that helped shape it.

Together Parsons alumni and students, faculty, and staff helped First Lady Michelle Obama introduce U.S. high schoolers

led process, the university created a flexible new identity system that is engaging the Parsons community.

Jacobs’ unflagging ingenuity has elevated him and the field. Calling himself “the most confident insecure person,” Jacobs discusses his collaborative, evolutionary process.

and services. But this issue of re:D—which has “storytelling” as its theme—takes a step back, presenting creative approaches and results that connect the school to the broader university.

This shared identity takes the Parsons story to the highest levels of achievement and widest public, communicating how learning is different—and better—at Parsons.

Parsons Reunion and Alumni Exhibition Opening 2015 is Saturday, October 10. Register for this event and learn more about your global Parsons alumni community at newschool.edu/alumni.

Our Supporters

red-handed

intelligently created, and beautifully expressed ideas, objects,

29

Parsons story of achievement.

thank you

munity’s continuing relevance in the story of human-centered,

amplifies the

28

These pages typically highlight the ones pointing to our com-

and disciplines—

giving

on campus, or worked with a grad of the school has a Parsons story. Collectively these stories chronicle a legendary history.

of graduates— spanning decades

26

Anyone who’s ever studied here, experienced a student show

The creativity

22

STORYTELLING

Alumni at Work

19

15

12

to creative careers.

Through a design-

Persistence of Vision: Marc Jacobs on Fashion

healthful building materials; a suc-

portfolio

recaps; a major initiative promoting

newschool.edu/parsons/red

A New Visual Identity Sparks Innovation

Parsons Festival and Fashion Benefit

Reaching Higher: Parsons’ Designs on the White House

rankings of art and design schools; 2015

7

NEWS & EVENTS 1

Parsons tops

REGARDING DESIGN (re:D) 2015

Ryan McGinley

1

PARSONS FESTIVAL Parsons Festival 2015 expanded

NYCxDESIGN, a citywide initia-

production of Jonathan Dove’s

Clockwise from bottom left:

beyond its Manhattan setting of

tive celebrating New York City’s

opera Flight (a Parsons and

Parsons’ 25 E. 13th St Street

previous years to include a new

commitment to design. Parsons

Mannes collaboration), and

Studios; Taylor Drake and

venue: Brooklyn’s Industry City

Festival 2015 kicked off with an

guided tours of Parsons’ latest

Chris Hepner, Downsprout: a

complex. Exhibitions, installa-

opening-night party at Industry

Design Workshop project

biometric solution to storm-

tions, events, and performances

City and a conversation between

at Brooklyn’s Sunset Park

water; Emma Lillian, untitled;

presented in Brooklyn and

Carol Lim and Humberto Leon,

Recreation Center. They also

SCE installation, created with

throughout Greenwich Village

founders of Opening Ceremony,

explored student work on view

ALPI reconstituted, at Wanted

invited the public to interact with

and professor Hazel Clark of

at the Sheila C. Johnson Design

Design 2015; Gavyn Ferguson,

Parsons’ creative community

Parsons’ School of Art and

Center, The Kitchen, and

Cyber Paraller Neuron Stimula-

working in a range of disciplines.

Design History and Theory.

Industry City.

tor; process: concept exhibition

Now in its fifth year, the

Over the following two weeks,

newschool.edu/parsons/festival

at Industry City

festival was once again part of

festivalgoers attended talks, a

1

TOP-RANKED

Product Design program director,

School of Design Strategies

Parsons recently ranked high

the class resulted in two pieces

partnered with Green Eileen, a

by BFA Product Design ’15

sustainability initiative of the

DESIGN AND VIOLENCE

students being brought to

Eileen Fisher Company, to design

Jamer Hunt, director of the MFA

market: Prism, by Daniel

products using re-purposed gar-

Transdisciplinary Design pro-

Martinez, and Bottle Axe, by

ments from the clothing retailer.

gram, along with The Museum

Sam Falco. Prism functions as

areaware.com/products threadless.com/parsons newschool.edu/moleskine newschool.edu/green-eileen

of Modern Art’s Paola Antonelli,

among its peers worldwide in outcomes and educational merit.

Named the Best College of Art and Design in the United States

by Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings, Parsons also took the number-two spot in the world in the same cate-

Parsons re:D 2015

a paperweight and magnifying glass and is available online and nationwide through Areaware

created Design and Violence, an experimental online curatorial project. The project’s creators

becomes available in August

ALUM BIZ BOOTCAMP

2015. Noe Paparella, BFA

The Parsons Entrepreneurial

tion about manifestations of

Illustration ’15, won the Parsons/

Lab is redefining the alumni

global violence, design’s connec-

Moleskine competition, which

experience for selected graduate

tion to violence around the world,

challenged seniors in Parsons’

students of Parsons’ School of

and design’s potential to address

School of Art, Media, and Tech-

Design Strategies. The ELab is

it. The endeavor recently con-

nology to design a cover for a

expanding its partnerships with

cluded with a debate on com-

Moleskine journal and belly-

incubators and accelerators

puter viruses as digital weapons.

band responding to the prompt

around New York City and at

designandviolence.moma.org

#WanderingMind. Paparella’s

international campuses in order

design will be sold exclusively at

to support recent graduates

Moleskine’s Greenwich Village

making the transition from stu-

store. Threadless and Parsons’

dents to start-up entrepreneurs.

PRISON OBSCURA 2

School of Fashion also teamed

Grantees benefit from direct

American prisons hold 2.3 million

Partner collaborations give

up, tasking students with

mentoring and coaching and

citizens, at an annual cost of

students opportunities to work

transforming T-shirts into haute

have access to events and work-

$70 billion. This reality was

with prominent firms and bring

couture. The three top designs,

shops. Applicants must have

addressed in Prison Obscura,

their designs to market. Product

by rising seniors Renee Pabon,

recently completed one of the

an exhibition on view this past spring at the Sheila C. Johnson

gory. Payscale ranked Parsons at

2

4

the top of art and design schools for salary potential. Parsons graduates earn, on average, $43,300 annually in early-career salaries and $93,700 at midcareer, according to the report. Parsons also appeared on SuccessfulStudent.org’s list of “Top 27 Video Game Colleges.” topuniversities.com payscale.com/college-salary-report

IN STORE FOR YOU 1

outlets such as the MoMA Design Store. Bottle Axe, a bottle opener,

invited experts from diverse fields to respond to design objects and engage the public in conversa-

design firm Areaware collabo-

Michael Jafine, and Anmol

graduate programs of the School

rated with Parsons’ School of

Vaswani, are available online

of Design Strategies or the MFA

Design Center. Prison Obscura

Constructed Environments in

at threadless.com. In a third

Design and Technology program

presented rarely seen vernacular,

spring 2014 on Small Things

initiative—led by Laura Sansone,

of Parsons’ School of Art, Media,

surveillance, evidentiary, and

Matter, a product design studio.

curator and adjunct professor

and Technology.

intimate prisoner-made photo-

Led by Daniel Michalik, BFA

of design—students of Parsons’

sds.parsons.edu/elab

graphs representing incarcerated

3

4

of the Year Award for her collec-

Mol); legendary fashion designer

by Prison Photography project

tion designed for seated disabled

Ralph Lauren (pictured above

founder Pete Brook, the show

people, a community mostly

with Paul Goldberger), who

included works by Josh Begley,

ignored by the fashion industry.

spoke as the inaugural Marvin

Paul Rucker, Steve Davis, Kristen

Parsons and Kering also selected

Traub Lecturer as part of the

S. Wilkins, Robert Gumpert,

Jones as one of two winners of

series At the Parsons Table with

Mark Strandquist, Alyse Emdur,

the Empowering Imagination

Paul Goldberger; Paul Clemence

and others. Prison Obscura is

Fashion Design Competition.

and Lily Wei, who discussed

connected to The New School’s

Recipients are awarded a trip to

architectural photography at

Humanities Action Lab (HAL)

Kering’s manufacturing facilities

SCE; “The Fear of Art”: 32nd

Global Dialogues on Incar-

and material libraries in Italy,

Social Research Conference

ceration, an interdisciplinary

an opportunity to display their

guests (Ai Weiwei, Holland

initiative that fosters public

work at Saks Fifth Avenue, and

Cotter, Agnes Gund, Boris Groys,

engagement with America’s

mentorship from Style.com.

Victor S. Navasky, Ethan Cohen,

prison system.

style.com/trends/fashion/2015/ parsons-kering-lucy-jones

Melissa Chiu, Minky Worden,

VISITORS TO CAMPUS 4

Persekian, Nikahang Kowsar, Jeffrey Deitch, Lisa Phillips, and

Among the many prominent

(hi)STORIES speakers (Grace

newschool.edu/sjdc/prison

CAPABLY CLAD 3 In 2012, BFA Fashion Design student Lucy Jones was given an ambitious assignment in her

lecturers on campus were speak-

Design Communication class:

ers from the New School Public

Design a product that could

Art Fund Talks (Jeff Koons and

change the world. Jones turned

Dread Scott); the team behind

to her cousin Jake, who—despite

the documentary Citizenfour

being otherwise independent—is

(Edward Snowden, David Carr,

unable to dress himself as a

Glenn Greenwald, and Laura

result of paralysis on the left

Poitras, BA Liberal Arts ’96);

side of his body. “I remember

speakers from the Graduate

thinking how strange it was

Institute for Design, Ethnogra-

that we’re not tackling these

phy & Social Thought (GIDEST)

issues,” says Jones. She designed

Seminar series, who addressed

trousers equipped with magnets

the intersection of design, eth-

that enable Jake to dress with

nography, and social thought

one hand. Jones won Parsons’

(Peter Hall, Krzysztof Wodiczko,

coveted Womenswear Designer

Reggie Wilson, and Annemarie

Paul Chan, Shirin Neshat, Jan

Svetlana Mintcheva); INSIDE Lees-Maffei and Sara Kristofferson); AMT Visiting Artists Lecture Series presenters (Julia Scher, Jacolby Satterwhite, Liz Magic Laser, Cheryl Dunye, Shadi Habab Allah, and Laylah Ali, pictured above); and Glenn Ligon, who spoke about his site-specific neon work, For Comrades and Lovers, installed in the University Center.

NEW EDU OPS Two new graduate programs and a host of minors expand Parsons’ offerings aimed at growing industries. Housed in the School of Constructed Environments (SCE), the MFA Industrial Design program launched in fall 2015.

In the program, students design services and products employing advanced making skills while influencing the industry through direct engagement with manufacturing systems at all scales.

The MS Data Visualization program, offered by the School of Art, Media, and Technology, also launched in fall 2015. The curriculum brings together design, statistics, and computer

News & Events

populations in the U.S. Curated

science and offers instruction in conducting data-driven research for settings in which quantified information increasingly shapes opinion, policy, and decision making. Minors at Parsons and throughout The New School enable students to tailor their study paths with offerings including Comics and Graphic Narrative, Creative Entrepreneurship, and nondesign subjects ranging from foreign languages to psychology to media making. newschool.edu/parsons/academics

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Parsons re:D 2015

6

5

7

DESIGN TAKES FLIGHT 5

ALUMNI ACCLAIM 6

GATHERED

BY DESIGN 7

Activating the university’s focus

Anthony Deen, MArch ’95,

Work by a Student in the Type

In late April, alumni, faculty, and

on multidisciplinary collabo-

part-time associate professor

Directors Club’s 36 Typography

students gathered at Madison

ration, students from Mannes

in Parsons’ School of Art, Media,

Competition. Her winning entry,

Square Park for an evening of

School of Music and Parsons

and Technology and creative

packaging for a Japanese

design industry networking

recently presented Flight, an

director of Branded Environ-

confection, was inspired by

hosted at Häfele USA with

opera by composer Jonathan

ments at design consultancy

Dutch typographic master Piet

iGuzzini North America. Parsons’

Dove. Led by faculty members

CBX, created the logo for the

Zwart. Her design was created

School of Constructed Envi-

Alla Eizenberg and John Jerard,

new World Trade Center. Deen’s

for a design history course

ronments dean Brian McGrath

students from a range of Parsons

concept-driven design, created

taught by Jason Booher,

introduced the evening’s

programs created flamboyant

while he was a creative director

AAS Graphic Design ’05.

speakers, MFA Interior Design

costumes and designed a set,

at branding agency Landor

and MFA Lighting Design

complete with a ticket counter

Associates, references six key

newschool.edu/wtclogo parsons.edu/yoko-nire

and a giant turnstile, evoking

aspects of the WTC’s past, pres-

recently debuted innovative

Dove’s dystopian airport termi-

ent, and future. Yoko Nire, AAS

projects in international settings.

nal in this fully staged production.

Graphic Design ’14, won the

newschool.edu/flight

Award for Excellent Typographic

program alumni who had

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FETING FASHION 8

photography Jeanine Oleson—

to work with artisans from the

MA Fashion Studies’ latest issue

have been awarded Creative Cap-

participating luxury companies.

of BIAS: Journal of Dress Practice,

ital grants. Burns’ multichannel

luxuryeducationfoundation.org

focuses on fashion’s connection

Celebrated designer Marc

video installation Negative Space explores gender identity through

STREET SEATS

to surveillance, dress codes, and

Jacobs, BFA Fashion Design ’84, and global luxury products group

a surreal narrative about bodies

A 240-square-foot parking spot

of the MA Design Studies

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis

in transition and their interaction

at the northeast corner of 13th

program’s Plot(s): Journal of

Vuitton were recognized for their

with nature and technology. In a

Street and Fifth Avenue is now

Design Studies highlights the

significant industry contributions

series of performances, work-

the site of a sleek platform—

practice of data collection in

at the 2015 Parsons Fashion

shops, and a film, Oleson’s A

constructed using sustainably

urban places and the evolution

Benefit. Held at the Javits Center,

human(e) orchestra presents an

harvested Ipe wood—that is

of performance spaces.

the event raised more than $1.7

ever-changing ensemble per-

equipped with seats and tables.

million for student scholarships.

forming works that range from

The project, led by assistant

GREEN PLATED

Jacobs, a two-time honoree,

conventional music to speech.

professor Nick Brinen in

Last year, students from Parsons’

received his award from Vogue

akburns.net jeanineoleson.com

partnership with the NYC

School of Constructed Environ-

Department of Transportation,

ments began a project to replace New York City school lunch trays

sit and relax. “The platform was

made from polystyrene foam

creative advisor to Parsons’

DECADE DELUXE 9

invites community members to entirely built by hand, working

with a recyclable and com-

School of Fashion and a member

Industry insiders packed The

within Parsons’ own facilities,”

postable alternative. Working

New School last March to cele-

says Mark Rakhmanov, a

with the environmental nonprofit

brate the tenth anniversary of

member of a ten-student project

Global Green USA and led by BFA

the Luxury Education Founda-

team drawn from Parsons’ Archi-

Product Design program director

tion and its partnership with

tectural Design, Interior Design,

Daniel Michalik, students visited

Parsons and Columbia Business

and Product Design programs.

schools, toured manufacturing

School. The event showcased

newschool.edu/streetseats

and recycling facilities, and pre-

ten iconic design and marketing

IMPRINTING ADHT 10

creative director Anna Wintour.

Jacobs and Simon Collins,

of Parsons’ board of governors, announced the 2015 Designer of the Year awards. This year’s winners are Lucy Jones (womenswear); Jon Max Goh and Sungho Kim (menswear); Jennifer Lia Kim (childrenswear); and Steffi Tsz and Wing Lau (accessories).

projects that students from the

newschool.edu/benefit

two schools developed for firms

CAPITAL FOR CREATIVES

including Salvatore Ferragamo,

Two faculty members from

Lalique. LEF and Parsons also

Parsons’ School of Art, Media, and Technology—lecturer A. K. Burns and assistant professor of

Van Cleef & Arpels, Cadillac, Cartier, GRAFF, Loro Piano, and launched the Luxury Craftsmanship Workshop, for which 16 Parsons students were chosen

In its debut issue, the MA History of Design and Curatorial Studies’ new journal Objective examines objects ranging from coffee cups to cinema seating and the contexts in which they are produced.

sented their designs to industry professionals. “The class engaged students in a user-centric design approach to investigate the nature of the tray,” said Michalik.

The Urban Food Alliance, which will roll out the biodegradable trays, estimates that 225 million polystyrene trays will be kept out of landfills every year. newschool.edu/trays

News & Events

editor-in-chief and Condé Nast

social control. The second issue

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HEALTHY HOMES

Project, a collaborative working

Design, MFA Interior Design,

with manufacturers and devel-

MArch, and MA Fashion Studies

opers to replace existing materi-

programs helped design the

REUNION RECAP 12

Co-founded by Parsons, Healthy

als with safer alternatives.

DOT space, explore products to

More than 500 alumni and

Building Network, Green Science

healthymaterialslab.org

develop, research local practices

guests, including artists and

Policy Institute, and Health Product Declaration Collaborative, Healthy Materials Lab (HML) received a transformative grant from The JPB Foundation to

6

Parsons re:D 2015

support its goal of reducing the amount of toxic substances in building materials while encouraging the adoption of less toxic materials. Housed at Parsons Design Lab, HML will influence how designers are taught about building practice.

“Our work creates actionable strategies, integrating healthy building protocols, products, and green science with research to impact the health-related qualities of building materials,” said Alison Mears, director of HML and assistant professor at Parsons’ School of Design Strategies. The lab focuses on low-income populations, typically the most vulnerable to the negative effects of such materials. HML’s first project is the Healthy Affordable Materials

AID TO ARTISANS 11 Parsons recently partnered with

and materials, and lead work-

designers representing all of

shops involving jewelry, textiles,

Parsons’ disciplines and

leather, pottery, hand-dyeing,

graduating years gathered last

printing, and beading.

October at venues throughout

Fashion Design ’87—and Haitian

CAKMAK JOINS PARSONS

designer Paula Coles to create

Parsons announced Burak

DOT (Design, Organization and

Cakmak as the new dean of the

Training) Center, a new voca-

School of Fashion. Cakmak will

tional education hub for Haiti’s

oversee the BFA Fashion Design

artisan community. “Haiti is a

program, AAS degree programs

country of artisans bursting with

in Fashion Design and Fashion

creativity but without the voca-

Marketing, and the MFA in Fash-

tional skills to bring that talent

ion Design and Society program.

to the next level,” says Karan.

Under his leadership, the School

“Vocational education, I believe,

of Fashion will continue to

is the answer. I thought, ‘Why

pursue collaborations spanning

not connect the dots and bring

technological development,

educators and students from

sustainable construction, and

Parsons, my alma mater, to Haiti

ethical manufacturing in artistic,

to work with artisans?’” Over

luxury, and consumer-focused

the last two years, a Parsons

fashion. Previously Cakmak

interdisciplinary design team led

spearheaded innovation-driven

by faculty member Alison Mears

sustainability strategies for

worked closely with Karan and

Swarovski Group, MADE-BY

artisans in Port-au-Prince. Stu-

Benelux, and Kering.

dents from Parsons’ BFA Product

newschool.edu/cakmak

Urban Zen Foundation—a project of alumna Donna Karan, BFA

the campus and city for Parsons Reunion 2014. Highlights included a reception and the fourth annual Alumni Exhibition opening. Another special feature was a public conversation—part of At the Parsons Table, the school’s ongoing series of design dialogues—between Paul Goldberger, Joseph Urban Professor of Design, and vice president of Google Creative Lab, Robert Wong, BFA Communication Design ’90. The Alumni Exhibition included nearly 100 works by alumni spanning six decades, representing more than 20 areas of study. Parsons Reunion takes place in NYC this year on October 10. newschool.edu/parsons-reunion

Highlighting innovation and creativity in recent graduates’ work

NOMAD Miriam Josi and Stella Lee Prowse developed an interest in gardening, sustainable design, and reclaimed materials while sharing a Brooklyn garden apartment. Today their portable planter, Nomad, is bringing them global acclaim.

Miriam Josi ’14 & Stella Lee Prowse ’14 BFA PRODUCT DESIGN Josi and Lee Prowse began collaborating while students at Parsons before founding The Garden Apartment, their aptly named design studio. Collaboration is “a conversation that never ends,” says Lee Prowse. “We get excited about an idea and take it to the moon before coming back to earth in the end.”

Nomad, their studio’s first product, is

a collapsible fabric planter. Designed for herbs, the versatile product can be hung, sit upright, or attach to a wall to create a vertical garden. When sourcing materials, Josi and Lee Prowse chose reclaimed sailcloth from a Bronx boatyard. “We were looking for lightweight, durable, low-cost, easy-to-clean fabrics,” explains Josi. Manufactured locally,

7

the product ships flat. Its minimal construction is an essential part of the conscious approach to design that they developed at Parsons, where “sustainability is considered indispensable,” says Josi.

Raised in Switzerland, Josi lives in Paris,

where she continues developing products.

Australian-born Lee Prowse is now based in Newburgh, New York, overseeing studio production. The pair recently participated in Project 50, an intensive design workshop at Domaine de Boisbouchet led by Parsons faculty member Allan Wexler and sponsored

by USM Modular Furniture. thegardenapartment.com

Josi and Lee Prowse designed their planter with New Yorkers’ small apartments in mind. They hope to encourage people to grow their own herbs and become aware of food sources.

8

Parsons re:D 2015

CONSUMING SOCIALISM In her thesis, “Consuming Socialism: Mid-Century Modernist Interiors in the Former Yugoslavia,” Dora Sapunar explores the power of visual culture to imprint political ideals on the public’s consciousness.

Dora Sapunar ’14 MA DESIGN STUDIES After finding industry fair brochures and

chose Parsons for its reputation in design

popular media from Communist Yugoslavia

education. Reflecting on her education,

that depicted idealized modern interiors,

Sapunar recalls that Professor Jilly Traganou

Sapunar knew she’d found rich material to

was “incredibly helpful at every step” and

document the role of design in constructing

provided invaluable assistance with “the less

national identity. She analyzed coordinated

glamorous aspects of thesis writing.”

efforts to establish Yugoslavian national

tastes through promotion of modern domes-

and was an editorial assistant at Dwell. She

tic design and representations of family life.

has written on midcentury architects and

Although many of the interiors shown were

designers and recently published “Spatial

beyond the public’s reach, they nonetheless

Reasoning: Gender History and Minimalist

hoped to become the model for

were effective propaganda for a government

Spaces,” an article for A Women’s Thing mag-

a future society.” The govern-

eager to promote what Sapunar calls “an

azine, at which she is a contributing editor.

ment employed images of

alternative to the Soviet model of socialism.”

Sapunar also lectures part-time at Parsons.

Sapunar studied art history and English

at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, and then

Sapunar has contributed to Metropolis

dorasapunar.com

Sapunar notes, “Yugoslavia

model interiors to align public consumption and taste with official goals.

CHILDREN OF LENINGRADSKY Ximon Lee’s thesis collection earned him Parsons’ 2014 Designer of the Year award. In 2015, he won the H&M Design Award, becoming the first American and the only menswear designer to receive that honor.

Ximon Lee ’14 BFA FASHION DESIGN For his striking collection, Lee drew inspiration from the layered oversized adult clothing worn by youth in the documentary The Children of Leningradsky. Lee deconstructed found clothing and explored techniques of bonding fabrics, combining materials including denim, cardboard, and trash bags.

His signature style includes exaggerated proportions in details like sleeves, trouser legs, lapels, and pockets.

Lee is adapting pieces for a capsule

collection H&M is producing in conjunction with the prize. About Lee’s process of adapting conceptual work for retail, his advisor,

PORTFOLIO

Alla Eizenberg, says, “He always finds a way to create without compromising what he believes.”

Born to Korean parents in northeastern

China, Lee developed an interest in graphic design that led him to Parsons. He initially had little interest in fashion but discovered

9

a passion for garment construction during a summer class. He then enrolled in the BFA program and interned at Calvin Klein, Phillip Lim, and Prabal Gurung, AAS Fashion Design ’01. More recently, Lee has developed his collection for the fall–winter 2015 market and was a semifinalist for the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers, awarded to innovative entrepreneurial young designers. ximonlee.com

Thesis advisor Alla Eizenberg describes Lee’s work ethic this way: “He produces in a week what others do in a month, a quality that brought his senior collection to a distinctive place.”

Parsons re:D 2015

10

MATERIAL COMMUNICATIONS For her master’s thesis, Doremy Diatta developed objects for use in therapy involving parents of children with disruptive behavioral disorders. Today her work is attracting attention internationally.

Doremy Diatta ’14 MFA TRANSDISCIPLINARY DESIGN With support from Parsons, Diatta recently

often use three parent-child interaction

and at Character Lab, where she develops

presented her thesis on principles of therapy

methods—praise, verbal reflection, and

design-driven strategies for use in mental

for children with disruptive behavioral dis-

description—to reinforce positive behaviors.

health treatment and education.

orders at the 2015 Design Indaba conference

Bridging cognitive science and design, Diatta

in Cape Town. She shared objects she had

developed the object shown on this page,

designed for a family therapy strategy

and others, which enable parents to use the

employing alternative communication

therapy techniques at home.

methods to help therapists comprehend how

people construct their worlds. “Uncovering

thesis that it “felt like it was my life.” But her

the meaning we attach to objects, I tap into

advisor, Patricia Beirne, wisely reminded

therapy for children with

our implicit understanding of relationships

her that “what you do after will be greater.”

disruptive behavioral disorders.

and events,” says Diatta.

Diatta is now building a design practice and

Simple wood, metal, and plexi-

is also an independent contractor at the

glass items help parents apply

University of Pennsylvania’s Duckworth Lab

core therapy skills.

When working with children with

disruptive behavioral disorders, professionals

Diatta says she worked so hard on her

doremydiatta.com

Diatta designed objects to enhance communication and

THE MOTHER NATION Kai Margarida-Ramírez ’14 MFA FINE ARTS Born in Puerto Rico and raised in New

which Margarida-Ramírez explores craft,

Papel! Pico, Rico y Chico. In 2014, she was an

Mexico, Margarida-Ramírez developed a

gender, and the lives of female relatives.

Artist Fellow at the de Young Museum in San

unique perspective on postcolonial and

“Embroidery and paper cutting are often

feminist identity that anchored her work

considered feminine, crafts rather than fine

at Parsons. “In my second year,” she recalls,

art,” she explains. “Cutting into the paper and

“faculty members Thomas Butter and Ernesto

fiber, I insert my hand and myself into the

Pujol encouraged me to delve deeper into my

untold histories of these Caribbean women,”

family stories and examine what it means to

says Margarida-Ramírez.

Margarida-Ramírez holds a BA in

Francisco. Today Margarida-Ramírez lives in Brooklyn and exhibits nationally. kaimargaridaramirez.com

Margarida-Ramírez balances

use photographs taken by my great-great-

grandmother.” Cutting and embroidering the

Sociology and Women Studies from the

positive and negative space,

photographs, she obscures faces and bodies,

University of New Mexico. Her work is in

contrasting the emotional

evoking the impermanence of memory.

the permanent collection of the National

weight and the elusiveness

Needlework and papel picado—traditional

Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque

of memory in La Danza de

Mexican paper cutting—are tools through

and was included in the center’s exhibition

Nuestra Mestizaje, shown above.

11

PORTFOLIO

Memory and identity are central to Kai Margarida-Ramírez’s work.

She embroiders and hand-cuts family photographs with patterns based on floor tiles in her great-great-grandmother’s house.

Parsons re:D 2015

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PARSONS’ DESIGNS ON THE WHITE HOUSE First Lady Michelle Obama recently enlisted the Parsons community to lead her Fashion Education Workshop for U.S. high schoolers. Parsons fashion alumni led workshops, and faculty and students from Parsons’ Schools of Design Strategies and Constructed Environments transformed the East Room with installations made from repurposed materials.

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hen The First Lady conceived the workshop, part of her “Reach Higher”

initiative to promote post–high school education, she began by contacting

Narciso Rodriguez, BFA Fashion Design ’82. One of Obama’s favorite designers and

a Parsons graduate, Rodriguez represented a logical first point of contact: His commitment to full access to education and close connections with Parsons rallied the community. Celebrated designers and fellow alumni—including Tracy Reese, Jason Wu, Jenna Lyons, Charles Elliott Harbison, Zac Posen, Reed Krakoff, Lela Rose, Edward Wilkerson, and Prabal Gurung—were called on to lead the day’s events. In total, more than 30 Parsons alumni and university faculty and staff participated. Meanwhile, the White House invited 150 East Coast high school students to take part in hands-on workshops with the designers and hear their fashion industry insights.

The day opened with skill-focused activities dealing with inspiration,

construction techniques, wearable technology, entrepreneurship, and writing, which gave the designers opportunities to engage with students informally, sharing selfies and snacks. Rodriguez and Krakoff led the session on inspiration, handing out sketchbooks and encouraging students to look around them for design ideas.

“Look at the way people move, how they present themselves to the world. Observe, then start sketching,” said Rodriguez. Krakoff urged them to “let go and follow your instincts.”

Posen demonstrated fashion construction fundamentals, guiding students in

designing on miniature dress forms. Rose led a session on journal writing, stressing the value of recording one’s ideas in written or drawn form. The First Lady visited the workshops, offering encouragement and emphasizing the important but unglamorous aspects of jobs in creative industries. Rodriguez echoed her points, reminding students, “To succeed, you have to put in the work.”

Among the attendees were ten Parsons Scholars—New York City high school

students who undertake a multiyear program of free art, design, and college-prep courses at Parsons. Destiny Pastrana, a Parsons Scholar in her final year at the High School of Fashion Industries, highlighted the importance of academic rigor need more than just passion for fashion. ‘Education is the key,’ he said. ‘You have to understand all aspects of the industry to create the designs you envision.’”

Tracy Reese said of the workshops, “The message was about education,

about going after your dreams and seeking the right educational path to achieve your goals.”

Between a morning of workshops and an afternoon panel in which designers

shared their career success stories, Obama assured students that they can achieve their goals, beginning with the right education. “Fashion is about passion and creativity, just like music or dance or poetry,” she observed. “For many people, it is a calling and a career.”

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by citing one of her workshop instructors. “Naeem Khan reminded me that you

SE T TING A STAGE FOR LEARNING The Fashion Education Workshop also gave Parsons

rings. They also assembled Brancusi-inspired sculptural

faculty and students an opportunity to showcase their

columns made from reconstructed books.

leadership in sustainable design. In the weeks leading

Garlands fashioned from local flowers and ferns

up to the event, Obama invited students to create a

complemented the sculptural paper centerpieces. For

complete design experience in the East Room of the

a showpiece, students fabricated an impressive back-

White House.

drop made of 4,000 folded pages. An elegant open

Led by faculty members Alison Mears, Helen

lectern welded from discarded steel was designed to

Quinn, and Jonsara Ruth, Parsons students developed

highlight the First Lady’s dress. “Students went above

concepts employing repurposed materials and reflect-

and beyond to create interesting pieces that delineated

ing the theme of design education. “The role of the

spaces for making art and for presentations,” said Ruth.

designer is to create within constraints,” Quinn noted.

“The choice of discarded books as a material was both

Surveying the striking installation he helped cre-

ate, BFA Architectural Design student Nelson De Jesus

a literal and a metaphoric link to Parsons’ approach

Ubri attributed the rare creative opportunity to his prior

to education.”

participation in the Parsons Scholars program. “Being

part of a high-profile event promoting design education

During an intensive two-week period, students

visited Materials for the Arts, a local clearinghouse for

at the White House—or becoming an architect—would

donated goods, where they collected more than 600

not have been possible without Parsons,” said De Jesus

books and other source materials. Working in teams,

Ubri. “Getting the chance to design something for the

students developed a design concept that involved var-

East Room was a huge honor.” The installation embod-

ious methods of folding pages and laser-cutting hard

ied a lesson of design education taught at Parsons—

covers to construct tabletop constructions including

that with ingenuity, intelligence, and available means,

centerpieces, mantelpieces, and objects such as napkin

one can create extraordinary things.

Parsons students decorated The White House with a dramatic installation made from discarded books—a nod to the day’s theme of education.

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As Ma ap rc pe are h ca an m d1 d an 3th in t e to df he ac St on ne t. C reet hear lose w , re — v inn lai i dre t of d mi ov sual G w r ng at ee bann vis ive iden n s ers pa w ito ti sp wi irit ty, o ce in rs’ a ich V th n i t an l t bo d r e tha he u tent lage l i . etu on rba tc On d ty ha pe rns sk nl es l y id len an ma wa Pa d g rso rki entif rd, sc es ap n yin ns t ou g ow e to rc at Pars g Ne om in st its er on w rik for mu to me we s’ co Scho nit ing w rne rn r yt ol am bu o p ays s cla r , th i d i —Fif ut e. nt th lding eu int he Av s niv oa en sa ers cti ue on ity me co its u lor cre nve il at ive ed a an d

Parsons re:D 2015

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Inset: Peter Bil’ak’s sketches for our new typeface. Background: Students used Parsons’ custom red color and Neue Random in wallpaper they designed for the main building’s Fifth Avenue lobby.

HHJJJKKKLLLMMMNNNOOOPP

created for graphics in the University Center. Bil’ak drew

of integration that has been unfolding at The New

Neue in an upper-and-lowercase font for regular copy

School in recent years. The University Center has given

and a bold all-uppercase version in three widths and

the community a place to activate cross-disciplinary

two weights for headlines. The three widths arose from

work and Parsons’ School of Fashion a new home; this

experimentation: Scher discovered that stretching some

fall, Mannes School of Music opens in its new location

letterforms horizontally gave Neue a pleasing rhythm

nearby in a center housing all our performing arts

when applied to the names of the university’s schools.

schools. Groundbreaking interdisciplinary programs— including ones uniting design and journalism, and

“The P in Parsons looked particularly good when widened,” she recalls. “Then we realized you could program

entrepreneurship and the arts—have students collabo-

a font to randomly choose between the three widths.”

rating in ways that uniquely prepare them for the future.

Bil’ak developed an algorithm to maintain legibility

Driving these developments is The New School’s

while randomizing type widths—a function that can be

mission to bring together the university’s remarkable

turned on and off—inviting designers to introduce an

creativity, intellectual might, and resources so that

improvisational syncopation into their work.

students can achieve their full potential, contributing to

the world as engaged citizens and innovators. Broad-

bars—evoking the exterior banding on both the Urban

casting this story called for a new public face for The

building and the University Center—to join the New

New School—one as distinctive, forward-looking, and

School logomark to the names of university schools

flexible as our community. To guide efforts to update

and offices set beneath. The type-and-bar system

The logo system employs a pair of horizontal

the university’s visual identity, The New School enlisted

is designed to visually communicate the connection

Paula Scher, principal designer at global design con-

between the university and its schools and to grow

sultancy Pentagram. Using a design research process

with The New School’s evolving array of programs,

like the one taught at Parsons, Scher explored ways to

research centers, and offices. Parallel to the design

express the university’s “oneness” and the connection

process was a project to refine the names of academic

between its schools while allowing for individuality and

units, which included creating a school combining Jazz,

the growth a pioneer like The New School experiences.

Mannes, and Drama (College of Performing Arts) and

In the end, Scher embodied The New School’s progres-

returning to Parsons’ former name: Parsons School of

sive legacy and innovative nature in a flexible system

Design. The resulting logo system and group of names

she calls a “gift from the university to the community.”

situate The New School as the overarching entity

Scher began with a new logo anchored by an

arresting custom-designed typeface. The ever-modern

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T

HE NEW VISUAL IDENTITY is one chapter in a story

connecting all the schools—Parsons, Lang, The New School for Social Research, Performing Arts, and

type on the façade of The New School’s Joseph Urban

Schools of Public Engagement.

building on West 12th Street inspired her initial

sketches, which she refined over months. The result

school or administrative names can appear in larger

was Neue (German for “new”), a font by celebrated

or smaller type according to communication needs

type designer Peter Bil’ak based on the typeface he

and desire for visual impact. For university-wide

While prescriptive, the system isn’t rigid: The

PPQQQRRRSSSTTTUUUV V V WW

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Parsons re:D 2015

P communications, designers can use the New School

possibilities to go to exponential levels of design appli-

logo alone or a version that includes the name of a

cations, ones Pentagram never anticipated.” Cordoba

school or office. The schools within Parsons (School

and Evans also worked with Pentagram and Parsons

of Art and Design History and Theory; School of Art,

faculty member Pascal Glissmann to design “wraps”

Media, and Technology; School of Fashion; School of

for campus water towers over two intensive weeks.

Constructed Environments; School of Design Strategies)

After experimenting with the system, Cordoba says, “As

have their own logos, as does Parsons Alumni. A custom-

a tool, it’s so adaptable; it enabled us to create some-

created Pantone color, Parsons Red, completes the new

thing of our own.” For Evans, the creative project had

visual identity’s palette (red, white, and black) and hints

clear benefits. Deepening his co-operative design skills

at Parsons’ cornerstone position in the university.

was one: “Working with Rafael on the towers didn’t feel

like a competition but rather a true collaboration of two

Both the font and the logo system break tradi-

tional design rules to create something recognizable,

approaches to design.” Another benefit? Evans is now

flexible, and new. “New is an extreme position,” Scher

an intern at Pentagram.

asserts, referring to the university’s name. “You can’t

pick a safe letterform for an extreme position.”

30, alumni and other members of the design commu-

This position reflects The New School’s culture of

nity and public began engaging with it. Associate pro-

challenging convention in pursuit of social good,

fessor David Carroll, MFA Design and Technology ’00,

Minutes after the new identity debuted on March

academic excellence, and design-led innovation. Scher

led a dialogue on the system and its pioneering algo-

is delighted to see the community taking the system

rithm in “What’s New Is Neue: An Alumni Conversation

she created and bringing it to life. “You create these

on the New Visual Identity,” at New School Alumni Day

systems and let them go,” she says. “It belongs to the

on May 9. The system grew on people quickly, though

university now, and will grow in ways we can’t predict.”

some initially expressed concern over features like

the wide W in “New,” which they argued can be read

Even before the new identity was made public,

BFA Communication Design students in a course taught

as two V’s. Scher counters, “Neue forces you to think

by Lucille Tenazas, Henry Wolf Professor and associate

about typography differently. The New School is a uni-

dean of Parsons’ School of Art, Media, and Technology,

versity that breaks rules in its pursuit of innovation. We

explored the system in depth. Tenazas guided students

had to break graphic design rules to create something

in creating designs to announce the arrival of The New

in keeping with the university’s spirit.”

School’s refreshed identity. With input from Pentagram,

juniors Rafael Cordoba, Joe Louis Evans, Josh Estrella,

goal of communicating its unity and integration in a

and senior Sunghoon Kim worked together to design

recognizable way that allows for evolution. “This school

Through design, the university has achieved its

a bold graphic wallpaper for the lobby of Parsons’

is about questioning, and that fact drove the entire

65 Fifth Avenue entrance. Their creative engagement

process,” Scher says. “Why create a visual identity that

with the Neue font and Parsons Red color reflects the

can change? Because you make rules for yourself and

kind of creativity Scher and Tenazas hoped to see.

explore and expand. That’s what education at The New

Tenazas says, “I see this as opening up even more

School is all about.”

WX X X Y Y YZZZ

Left to right: Students designed wraps for campus water towers; a New School MetroCard helps the university reach new audiences; banners with the new logo appeared on Fifth Avenue and 13th Street, fostering a campus environment.

PERSISTENCE of

VISION MARC JACOBS FASHION

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ON

JOEL TOWERS: Marc, we are delighted to honor you

shows had a whimsical, transformative quality; his

and LVMH and have this opportunity to talk about

collections were more fashion than clothes.

your celebrated career. Let’s start with how you came to Parsons.

MARC JACOBS: Thank you; I’m proud to be honored.

My Parsons story starts at Charivari, the boutique where I worked in high school and met Perry Ellis, a designer I admired. Perry was very gracious and intro-

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Parsons re:D 2015

duced me to his design assistants, Jed Krascella and

JT: What was Parsons like then?

MJ: Tracy Reese, Susan Martin, Chris Isles, and I found each other, and Tracy and I became particularly close.

We would sit at my dining room table all night—to the point of tears—doing assignments. Parsons is where you learn that it isn’t finished until it’s finished.

Patricia Pastor, who were Parsons graduates. He said

JT: Students still stay up late, pushing themselves. How

that if I was serious about fashion—which I was—I

do you approach each new collection? As a radical

should go to Parsons. So when the guidance counselor

departure? By revisiting themes?

asked what I planned after high school, I said I was applying to Parsons. I knew that not many people were accepted, but I was jaded and pretty audacious. I said, “I’m going to Parsons or I’m not going to school.” The counselor replied, “That’s not very sensible. You need a backup plan.” But I don’t believe in plan B’s. Parsons was my plan A.

MJ: Design is an evolutionary process—I can never tell what the end of the process will be without going through it. From season to season, the details, colors, and fabrics change, but the approach pretty much stays the same. You revisit things you love, at the core of your vocabulary—razor-cut fabrics, dresses, doublefaced coats. That probably goes back to my grand-

JT: You mentioned Perry Ellis; both he and Chester

mother taking me to Bergdorf Goodman and trying on

Weinberg awarded you a Gold Thimble for your

a red cashmere double-faced cape.

Parsons senior collection. Did they influence your design?

JT: Collaboration is essential at Parsons; students work

MJ: I felt a primal connection to Perry. He was a unique

with peers throughout the university, creating opera

voice on Seventh Avenue and made a statement each

sets and orchestral performance wear, for example.

season with shows influenced by a variety of sources—

Collaboration is important to you, too. Tell us about that.

The Canterbury Tales, and Spain, for example. Perry’s

MJ: Everything is a collaboration; it feels very organic, like when I asked Stephen Sprouse to collaborate with us at Louis Vuitton or Cher to work with us on this season’s ads. And each season begins with me working closely with the designers, stylists, makeup artists, photographers, and others. I’m part of a team that includes press, buyers, merchandisers, and friends. I

JT: What about digital platforms for fashion?

MJ: Social media is a tool and a curse. We want to show off and we want attention; I get it. But I want us to do it in real life. Where are the clubs? I love the ritual of dressing up and going out…. I want to feel the fabrics and try on the clothes and interact with the salespeople.

mean, I draw and learned to drape and make patterns

JT: We need to consider human factors and the impli-

in school, but I couldn’t do all of this myself, do the

cations of technology. Marc, we teach students to learn

shows….

from failure. Is that part of your creative process?

JT: What role does the runway play?

MJ: There’s no such thing as failure—it’s all a matter

MJ: Like theater, like a concert, nothing comes close to the emotional pull of a live performance. During Fashion Week, people rush from show to show. Then they

of context and timing. OK, so showing orange tights probably wasn’t the greatest idea for a fall show, but it doesn’t mean that another time, orange tights couldn’t look great. And I don’t know that anything is ever finished. You can show a dress and then a week later think it doesn’t seem relevant—or see something you’d finished for the moment.

JT: It becomes the raw material for the next iteration.

arrive at the Armory and forget where they are for a

Any parting advice for young designers?

few minutes during this escapist theater you’ve made,

MJ: If you’re passionate about fashion—don’t give up.

with creatures parading around. It transports you into

People might say that’s being stubborn, but it’s working

a thought, a mood, a spirit, a world. That’s what Perry’s

for me.

work did for me. A fashion show is more than a presentation of clothing.

Page 19: A collage of looks from the Marc

Left to right: Jacobs as a Parsons visiting

Jacobs Collection. Front to back: F/W 2010;

critic; sketches for which Jacobs won the

F/W 2015; F/W 2010.

Perry Ellis Gold Thimble award as a senior; the set of Jacobs’ F/W 2013 show.

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change. Everything is in perpetual change, even if it’s

ERIK MADIGAN HECK MFA ’10 PHOTOGRAPHY

For Erik Madigan Heck, there’s beauty in control. To achieve his vision, he often serves as creative director, setting and props master, and stylist. “For me as an artist, everything is dictated by the idea. Form follows that,” says Heck of his lush artistry. The expansive role suits his creative practice, which straddles fine art and fashion photography and earns him commissions from toptier clients like Comme des Garçons, Etro, and

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Parsons re:D 2015

Alexander McQueen.

In the image shown here—from Heck’s photo essay

“Drôle d’oiseau” (“strange bird”), for Numéro Magazine— the artist presents his subject in a pose recalling classical portraiture within a signature color-saturated scene.

Heck says, “I’ve always been on a quest to make paintings with photography. As a medium, photography never interested me, but bending it to create a new form of 2D imagery—where the medium becomes ambiguous—that does. Parsons was the perfect place to explore fashion photography as an art form rather than a commercial device.” Heck’s use of bold color-blocking and monochromatic backgrounds and his painterly rendering of his subjects usher his rich photography into the realm of fine art.

Today Heck photographs campaigns and editorials

for publications including the New York Times, Vogue, and WWD; exhibits work in fine art settings; and makes films. He recently photographed American menswear designers for a campaign initiated by the Council of Fashion Designers of America and Amazon to promote New York City’s first menswear fashion week.

Heck attracted attention by launching Nomenus Quarterly, a journal on art and fashion, while he was at Parsons.

DINA DWYER

As a teenager in the Philippines, Dina Dwyer glimpsed

in the bottom photograph on this page). A ladder to fit

her future in the pages of Elle Decor and Architectural

the shelves was salvaged from a New England library. “I

Digest. “The designers whose work I loved studied at

began by thinking we’d keep the façade and gut every-

Parsons, so that’s where I went.” Today Dwyer is a

thing to make it modern,” she says. “But it made sense to

sought-after Bay Area interior designer who undertakes

respect what was already there.”

residential constructions and major renovations with her

husband, Richard, a Silicon Valley area developer.

which now includes buying auction items for “the story

Their first project together was creating a home for

The process transformed her approach to decor,

behind each piece,” says Dwyer. “They reflect how the

themselves in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill neighborhood.

context of objects evolves over time. How we use vintage

A turn-of-the-century structure that once housed a store

objects today makes their storied pasts more meaningful.”

and shopkeepers’ living quarters, it was renovated in the Prohibition era to conceal a bootleg operation between floors. The couple preserved vestiges of the building’s mercantile history by keeping vintage fixtures and the original shelving in what is now the living room (shown Above: Dwyer preserved traces of her home’s past by painting some floors a red hue reminiscent of their original color.

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INTERIOR DESIGN

Alumni contribute creatively to industry and culture

AAS ’04

PHILLIP BODUM BFA ’11

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Parsons re:D 2015

PRODUCT DESIGN

“Do we really need another

?” asks Phillip Bodum. He

in Europe, the speakers will be sold in the United States

uses the question—a rhetorical device borrowed from

later this year.

faculty mentor Andrea Ruggiero—to remind himself to

consider necessity whenever design projects are pro-

and interiors. Each project reflects his goal of making

posed. When Danish electronics company Clint Digital

good design available to everyone. The groundwork for

approached Bodum to design a Bluetooth speaker short-

Bodum’s commitment was laid by his grandfather, who

Bodum’s practice encompasses products, graphics,

ly after he graduated, the question became a guiding

founded the Danish brand whose affordable goods bear

principle. “A new speaker had to fill a need: produce good

the family name. “I grew up with that model; it’s what I

sound and be easy to use and affordable.”

always try to do.”

The result was Freya, a compact wireless speaker

that won a 2015 Red Dot Award, given to recognize products highlighting the importance of design to business and society, and a 2015 International Forum (iF) Design Award. Bodum has since collaborated with Clint on a line of app-controlled home speakers. Available The sleek Freya speaker has won awards and a place in the U.S. market, beginning in fall 2015.

MONIR SHAHROUDY FARMANFARMAIAN Cert. ’49

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian’s art practice draws

distinctive aesthetic is apparent in Untitled (Sculpture 2).

on decades spent in Iran, her birthplace, and New York

Here she transforms a traditional Islamic design into a

City, where she attended Parsons and entered the vibrant

gyroscope of concentric hexagons.

art scene. This spring, her pioneering artwork was on

view in Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian: Infinite

Farmanfarmaian and master craftsmen build stuccoed

To create sculptures like the one shown on this page,

Possibility. Mirror Works and Drawings, 1974–2014, a

armatures that are covered in pieces of mirrored glass,

comprehensive exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum.

applying a centuries-old technique in a modern way. She

describes her three-dimensional panels as “something

After studying fashion illustration at Parsons,

Farmanfarmaian worked alongside Andy Warhol as an

new, something old, all swirling together in a dazzle

illustrator at the department store Bonwit Teller and

of light and color and unpredictable angles.” After two

befriended artists including Willem de Kooning, Joan

decades living in New York following the 1979 Revolution,

Mitchell, and Jackson Pollock. Upon returning to Tehran

she resumed her practice in Tehran, beginning a period of

in 1957, she began exploring traditional Iranian art and

intense creativity. At 90, she says, “Whatever time I have

experimenting with sculpture. Rooted in both Islamic

left, I want to make art.”

geometric forms and minimalist and abstract art, her Farmanfarmaian’s work was recently on view at the Guggenheim Museum and at Tulane University.

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alumni AT work

FASHION ILLUSTRATION

Parsons re:D 2015

26

Emily Meyer (left) and Jessica Ross (right) review Ross’ senior collection in the University Center

ALUMNI GIVE SUPPORTING STUDENTS BY DESIGN Alumni giving enables the university and its students to do their most exciting, innovative, and important work. At Parsons, it also helps donors and students build personal and professional connections through design. Emily Meyer, BFA Fashion Design ’93, founder of the Tea Collection children’s clothing company, established an award that does both.

The Emily Meyer/Tea Collection Prize for Childrenswear is making the clothing line created by Jessica Ross, BFA Fashion Design ’15, a reality. The prize includes a cash award and on-site mentoring at Tea Collection’s San Francisco headquarters. Thanks in part to Meyer’s generosity, Ross has completed her childrenswear thesis collection, “which incorporates handmade knits, prints, and graphics as well as recycled denim materials inspired by the sustainability and ethical production measures that make Tea Collection successful,” she says.

“I give today so that the next generation can lead responsibly

and sustainably tomorrow,” says Meyer. “We must learn from—and give to—one another.” The value of reciprocity is equally embodied in the way Meyer manages her global brand. Tea Collection produces its line with ethical manufacturers worldwide. Encouraging young designers to embrace ethical production—and the cultural exchange that comes with working internationally—is a top priority for Meyer.

Every gift makes a difference. Make yours today:

Tea Collection’s Spring 2015 catalog, shot in India. Meyer’s team travels the globe for inspiration and visits production partners, learning about local methods and sharing cultural insights.

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newschool.edu/giving-back

OUR SUPPORTERS July 1, 2013–June 30, 2014*

re:D (regarding Design) 2015 EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Anne Adriance

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Parsons re:D 2015

EDITORIAL BOARD: Amy Garawitz, Heidi Ihrig,

Anonymous ADCO Electrical Corp.

Gina Addeo Lisa Addeo (P) Sidsel T. Alpert ’71 Amazon.com American Red Cross AreaWare Jack and Marion A. Auspitz ’86 Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Inc. Barneys New York Andrew Bernheimer Binational Softwood Lumber Council Blick Art Materials Dominique Bluhdorn Mark and Diana Bowler (P) Keith Brackpool (P) Harlan Bratcher Bobbie Braun ’90 Jason and Melissa Mileff Burnett ’06 Jennifer Andrus Burroughs (P),

in memory of Dona J. Filkins Frick Byers ’96 John V. Calcagno ’73 Kristi Carney-Dunkley (P) Claire Chan ’11/The Chan Foundation Charity Buzz Murtaza and Shenaz Chevel (P) Lucy Chudson ’12 and William Schwartz City Lore, Inc. William and Jane Corbellini ’86 Richard and Jean Coyne Family Foundation Creative Sky Richard Darling/LF USA Conor Davis Davler Media Group/New York Spaces Beth Rudin DeWoody ’75/May and

Samuel Rudin Family Foundation, Inc. Angelo Donghia Foundation Michael Donovan ’69 and Nancye Green ’73 Jamie Drake ’78/Drake Design Associates, Inc. Dreamyard Jochen and Christina Duemler (P) Douglas D. Durst/The Durst Organization Renaud Dutreil/LVMH Moët Hennessy

Louis Vuitton Inc. The James Dyson Foundation Echo Design Group Robert J. Feeney Fresh Inc. Anne Gaines ’00 GameLab Institute of Play Inc. Henry and Barbara Gooss (P) Allan Greenberg Joe and Gail Gromek Victoria Hagan ’84/Victoria Hagan Interiors Hallmark Corporate Foundation The Haus of Gaga John Hayes (P) Andrew Heffernan ’11 and Anna Lundberg ’12 Estate of Jennifer Hill ’91 ICRAVE Illuminating Engineering Society Japan Foundation Peggy Keenan Jernigan Trust JESCO Lighting Group, LLC Thanos and Daniela Kamiliotis Lonnie and Karen Kane (P) Donna Karan ’87, in loving memory of her husband,

Stephan Weiss/The Karan-Weiss Foundation Gabrielle Karan, in loving memory of her father,

Stephan Weiss Charles Kenney and Anne Detmer (P) Ada Howe Kent Foundation Stephan and Michaela Keszler (P) Phyllis B. Kriegel

Nicholas and Theresa Leonardy (P) Aura Levitas Shin Yin Liong, MD (P) Theodore Luce Charitable Trust Luxury Education Foundation Dee MacDonald-Miller ’75/Jones Lang LaSalle Peter and Margaret Magerko (P) Anand and Anuradha Mahindra (P) Nancy Mahon/The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. Noel and Nienke Manns (P) Marjorie Marran ’51 MaxMara USA, Inc. Richard J. and Rosemary McCready (P) MetLife Foundation Roberto Thompson Motta and Amalia Spinardi (P) Ms. Foundation for Women Jacki Nemerov/The Nemerov Charitable Foundation The New York Community Trust New York Hall of Science Nokia Research Center One Kings Lane Open Society Foundations Sandra Owen ’57 OXO Perry Ellis International Michèle and Steve Pesner Philips Lighting University Alma M. Phipps ’78 The Pinkerton Foundation Betsy and Robert Pitts ’95 The Henry B. Plant Memorial Fund, Inc. Raul and Luz Ravelo (P) Riverdale Country School The Rockefeller Foundation Susan and Byron Roth (P) Alina Roytberg ’84 Samsung Everland Inc. Johan M. and Isabelle Schouten (P) David Schwartz Foundation, Inc. Richard J. and Sheila W. Schwartz ’88 Thomas and Debra Seiler (P) Ellen Sigal, PhD/Sigal Family Foundation SK Planet, Inc. Christy C. Smith/Southern Fashion House Margaret J. Smith ’89/The Teck Foundation Peter Sole and Helen Mumford-Sole (P)/Gartner Sony Electronics Celina Stabell ’98 The Geraldine Stutz Trust, Inc. Surdna Foundation William Susman and Emily Glasser Dennis and Judy Sweeney/

First Harvest Foundation (P) Tomio Taki Dan and Sheryl Tishman Alyce Williams Toonk (P) Type Directors Club Kay Unger ’68/The Kay Unger Family Foundation UNIQLO Co., Ltd. U.S.-Japan Council Robert and Delores Viarengo ’95 Nancy Vignola ’76 George and Nancy Walker/

The Brown Foundation, Inc. Ian Wayne (P) Angela Weber (P) Gene Weber (P) Jessica Weber ’66 Corey Weiss, in loving memory of

his father, Stephan Weiss Lisa Weiss, in loving memory of

her father, Stephan Weiss Claire Sepulveda Werner ’83 Thomas Wolf and Ellen Smolka (P) Andrea Woodner * Gifts of $1,000 or more.

Jen Rhee PARSONS ADVISORY BOARD: Joel Towers, Hazel Clark, Anne Gaines, Sarah Lawrence, Brian McGrath, Alison Mears MANAGING EDITOR: Kyle Hansen EDITOR and LEAD WRITER: John Haffner Layden CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Kate McCormick, David Thomas, Aimee Williams ART DIRECTOR: Ed Pusz LEAD DESIGNER: David Robinson PRODUCTION COORDINATORS: Steven Arnerich,

Sung Baik COPY EDITOR: Leora Harris PRODUCED BY: Marketing & Communication, The New School LETTERS AND SUBMISSIONS: re:D welcomes letters to the editor as well as submissions of original manuscripts, photos, and artwork. Unsolicited manuscripts, related materials, photography, and artwork will not be returned. Please include your year of graduation, degree completed, and major or program.

ADDRESS CHANGES: Please submit address

changes at newschool.edu/alumni.

CONTACT US: re:D, Parsons School of Design

79 Fifth Avenue, 17th floor, New York, NY 10003 alumni@newschool.edu PARSONS (760-830) Volume 32, No. 2, August 2015 PARSONS is published four times a year, in July, December, January, and May, by The New School, 66 W. 12th Street, New York, NY 10011. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to PARSONS, 79 Fifth Avenue, 17th floor, New York, NY 10003.

CREDITS: Eugenia Ames, Mannes ’69 (News &

Events); Courtesy of Areaware (News & Events); Associated Press (Reaching Higher); David Barron (Giving); Carter Berg (News & Events); Patricia Chang (Alumni at Work); Clint Digital and Phillip Bodum (Alumni at Work); Suzanne Cotter (Alumni at Work); Alex Dolan, BFA Photography ’14/BA Environmental Studies ’13 (News & Events); Dina Dwyer (Alumni at Work); Courtesy of The Garden Apartment (Portfolio); John Haffner Layden (Persistence of Vision); Hideaki Hamada (Giving); David Heald (Alumni at Work); Erik Madigan Heck (Alumni at Work); Courtesy of Marc Jacobs International (Persistence of Vision); Lucy Jones (News & Events); Sameer Khan (News & Events); The Kellen Design Archives (Persistence of Vision); Ximon Lee (Portfolio); Peter Lindbergh (Persistence of Vision); Ryan McGinley (Red-Handed); David Robinson (News & Events); Martin Seck (Cover, News & Events, Reaching Higher, A New Visual Identity); Matthew Septimus (News & Events); Tori Sulewski for Fotobuddy (News & Events); Marc Tatti (News & Events); Seyyed Arash Fewzee Youssefi (News & Events) The New School does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, religion, religious practices, mental or physical disability, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, or veteran or marital status. The New School is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution.

RED HANDED Ryan McGinley BFA ART, MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY Ryan McGinley is one of his generation’s most important photographers, acclaimed for his enigmatic portraits in which naturalism and dreamlike elements come together to produce works blending innocence and sensuousness.

At 25, McGinley became one of the

youngest artists ever to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art. He has since found artistic and commercial success, exhibiting fine art worldwide and shooting campaigns for Stella McCartney, Dior, and Hermès. His editorials appear in publications like Vogue, the New York Times Magazine, and W Magazine.

In Falling (Cornfield), 2007, McGinley draws the viewer into an ambiguous landscape. His nude subject appears to fall through a mist that seems palpable enough to slow his descent. Has he been cast from

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heaven? Or sent aloft in an earthly rite?

New School Alumni 79 Fifth Avenue, 17th floor, New York, NY 10003

newschool.edu/parsons

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