A roundup of ideas and projects from around the Institute
Professor of Fashion Design and Black Dress exhibition co-curator Adrienne Jones spoke to Essence about this year’s Met Gala, its theme “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” and the history of Black fashion design and styling. “There’s more than three colors in the crayon box,” she said. “Where was the vibrancy? I think of African tailors, of Caribbean elegance—rich color, texture, vibrance. That’s what I wanted more of.”
Students from Assistant Professor of Associate Degrees Deb Caponera’s Pre-Press & Print-Production class presented their work to the public at the opening reception for Posters for a Cause: Shaping Our Future Together at Betty Bakery in Brooklyn. The students spoke about the causes and organizations for which they wanted to raise awareness and funding. Students’ posters will be on display throughout the month of May.
Owen Hinrichs, BID ’26, Yihang (Edward) Xu, BID ’25, Arzu Oran, BID ’25, Jaehyeok Lee, MID ’25, Ben Thannat, MID ’25, and Liam Monaghan, MID ’25, all received Student Merit Awards from the Industrial Designers Society of America, which “recognizes industrial design students across the country who demonstrate tremendous talent, breadth of skill, exceptional presentation ability, and who best embodies the industrial design program they represent.”
Pratt teamed up with Pigna to host the Pratt x Pigna Special Edition Notebook Launch Party following the The Pigna Design Experience competition. Faculty, friends, and family gathered at Artist and Craftsman Supply in Brooklyn to celebrate the release of the winning design by Jake Stewart, AOS Illustration ’26, and participate in a workshop led by the artist.
Asia Chung, MFA Interior Design ’25, was recognized by the 2025 Metropolis Magazine Future 100 as one of the top 100 graduate interior designers in the United States and Canada. In her recommendation, Alison B. Snyder, professor of interior design, wrote: “Asia is industrious. Her insatiable interests in pattern making have led her to research and experiment with crafting processes to produce multiple sustainable and cultural meanings inside her designed interiors.”
Jin Liao, BFA Interior Design ’25, was recognized by the 2025 Metropolis Magazine Future 100 as one of the top 100 undergraduate interior designers in the United States and Canada. In his recommendation, Brad Leibin, visiting associate professor of interior design, wrote: “Jin is an exceptional student and a very talented, young designer. Jin’s work goes beyond course requirements because she is committed to excellence and has a passion for design. She is enjoyable to work with and is well liked by her peers.”
Elizabeth Lothian writes about The Seas by Professor of Writing Samantha Hunt in The Brooklyn Rail. “The Seas unfurls my spirit,” she writes. “It is the first work that spurs me to dive into my own slippery depths, to create from all that is submerged inside my head. The Seas allows me to greet the creature I am and fantasize about the one I could burgeon into being.”
Pratt alumni dressed celebrities for the 2025 Met Gala: Diana Ross in Sarah Sokol Millinery (Sarah Sokol, BFA Interior Design ’11); Janelle Monae wore Thom Browne in collaboration with fashion design alumnus Paul Tazewell; Chappell Roan in an upcycled look by Paul Tazewell; Taraji P. Henson in Monse in collaboration with Post-Imperial (creative director Laura Kim, BFA Fashion Design ’04).
Nanette Carter, MFA ’78, and former adjunct associate professor of fine arts, was featured in Hyperallergic. Her retrospective at the Montclair Art Museum in New Jersey “gives the viewer a look at an artistic language that continues to evolve and shed layers to reveal its essence.”
Dr. Mary McBride, chair and professor of creative enterprise leadership, highlights the critical challenge of our time in a recent article for Soda Zine, Engineering the Unsettled: Why Positive Turbulence Is Our Century’s Greatest Design Task. She emphasizes the power of positive turbulence as an opportunity to creatively design a future grounded in collaboration, equality, and hope. Dr. McBride calls on leaders and innovators to harness this moment of uncertainty to move beyond despair and build a more inclusive and hopeful world through design and leadership.
From Pratt Institute News
From Pratt Institute News
