Pratt Institute’s senior class of fashion designers will present original works at the Pratt Fashion Show on May 13, 2010 at 2 and 5:30 p.m. at The Altman Building at 135 West 18th Street in Manhattan. The Pratt Institute Fashion Icon Award will be presented by Kim Hastreiter, co-owner, publisher, and editor of PAPER magazine, to New York-based French designer Catherine Malandrino at the start of the 5:30 show.
The 2010 Pratt Fashion Show will feature the best work of 22 of Pratt’s graduating seniors. The designs to be shown on the runway have been pre-selected by a panel of fashion industry experts and press and will span several categories of apparel including women’s, men’s, evening, bridal, sportswear, and costume design. Showcased will be wearable ready-to-wear looks for both men and women; flirty cocktail dresses and rompers; elegantly-constructed and sophisticated bridal and eveningwear; and inventive costume designs.
“This year’s show celebrates our graduating senior’s creative voices and their individual design aesthetics,” said Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman, acting chair of the Pratt Fashion Design Department. “The show will be especially exciting as students worked on every aspect of the show from casting the models to working with hair and makeup professionals to create a signature ‘Pratt 2010 Look’ and curating the music,” she added.
The 2010 Pratt Fashion Show includes hair styling by Stefano Greco, make-up by Marie-Josée Lafontaine, and fashion styling by Nick Steele. Greco is a graduate of the CEPTA Beauty School in Geneva Switzerland whose work is informed by different ideas of beauty within world culture. Lafontaine has worked for over two decades in the fashion industry and has contributed her makeup artistry to major cosmetics companies such as Almay, Biotherm, L’Oreal, Clairol, Maybelline, and Revlon. Steele is a fashion stylist, art director, and journalist who has styled such celebrities as Beyoncé, Claire Danes, and Denzel Washington.
Pratt presents the Fashion Design Icon Award annually to a designer in recognition of his or her unique style and positive influence within the industry and ability to inspire young people interested in fashion. Malandrino is renowned for her runway and contemporary designs under the label Malandrino and Catherine Malandrino, respectively. Her designs have been worn by celebrities worldwide including Julia Roberts, Madonna, Halle Berry, and Sarah Jessica Parker. Malandrino will be the fifth Fashion Icon to receive this honor from Pratt, following Ralph Rucci in 2009, Carmen Marc Valvo in 2008, Narciso Rodriguez in 2007, and Diane von Furstenberg in 2006.
Malandrino was born in the French Alps and educated at ESMOD, Paris. Following graduation, she worked at the Paris couture houses of Dorothée Bis, Louis Féraud, Emanuel Ungaro, and in the 1990s was the creative force at the French label ‘Et Vous.’ She moved to New York City with Bernard Aidan, her partner in love and life, in 1998. That same year she presented her first collection in New York titled “Collage.”
Malandrino received acclaim for the patriotic, audacious, and feminine designs that were presented as part of her now-iconic “Flag” collection at New York Fashion Week in 2001. The collection included the silk “Flag” dress, which has since been exhibited at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London and has become a best-seller. That same year, she presented her “Hallelujah” collection at New York’s renowned Apollo Theater in Harlem and in 2002 her SoHo boutique was featured in the hit cable television series Sex and the City.
Malandrino currently designs two collections: her contemporary Catherine Malandrino line and her runway line Malandrino that features shoes and accessories including jewelry, handbags, and belts.
Hastreiter, a veteran of the magazine industry, will receive the prestigious Council of Fashion Designers of America’s (CFDA) Eugenia Sheppard Award at the CFDA Awards this June. According to the CFDA, the annual award recognizes a fashion journalist who has used his or her craft to further the profession of fashion reporting and coverage or whose work has shaped fashion visually. In addition to her work at PAPER, which is one of the world’s most widely-respected alternative, independent arts and culture publications, Hastreiter authors books, curates exhibitions, and serves as a member of various juries and nominating committees.
Members of the press should contact Amy Aronoff at 718.636.3554 or aarono29@pratt.edu to attend the 2010 Pratt Fashion Show. Press may attend either the 2 p.m. or the 5:30 p.m. show, but press credentials will be required for access.