Any recent fashion graduate will tell you the path from classroom to trade show is no easy journey. Project New York, the UBM-owned menswear show, aims to streamline that transition with “Next in Class,” a new partnership with The New School’s Parsons School of Fashion that will offer the school’s recent graduates an opportunity to expand and grow their budding businesses.
Five graduates have been hand-picked to exhibit their Spring ’17 collections at the July 17-19 Project New York show at the Jacob K. Javitz Center. The designers will have access to luxury retailers, buyers and e-commerce vendors, gaining exposure and insight into the wholesale marketplace.
The inaugural class includes: the winner of the Parsons 2016 Menswear Designer of the Year Award, Ming Peng; Native New Yorker Adi Mucktar-Barnes; Kering x Parsons 2016 finalist Ace Kim; former landscaper Raymond Natale; and Private Policy designers Haoran Li and Siying Qui.
“Our recent graduates are innovative and talented designers at the forefront of men’s fashion design,” said Burak Cakmak, dean of Parsons School of Fashion. “I’m thrilled that our partnership with Project will help the designers showcase their collections to a wider audience and engage with the wholesale community.”
Project has been interested in supporting education and emerging designers are sometime, said Erik Ulin, President of Project and men’s fashion at UBM. He added, “The Parsons partnership came naturally and we are excited to help aid in the process of fostering these talented young designers and the future of menswear.”
