Parsons' Designer of the Year: Stephanie Suberville

Today was my last day of classes (woot woot) but I still have finals in the coming two weeks. While I’m prepping for my final exams, seniors at Parsons The New School for Design (that's a mouthful) are getting ready to graduate. The best fashion designers of the graduating class get the opportunity to showcase their designs at the Parsons’ Annual Benefit and Fashion Show.

The Parsons’ Benefit is a fabulous black tie affair that raises funds for scholarships and academic programs at the school. This year at the event, Parsons honored two acclaimed individuals in the fashion industry: fashion designer and CFDA president Diane von Furstenberg and Barneys New York Chairman and CEO Howard Socol. The school also awarded Stephanie Suberville as the Designer of the Year- an honor that could potentially launch her career.

Dress designed by Stephanie Suberville

Suberville says this of her final collection:

"I wanted to show who I am, and a lot of who I am as a designer comes from my background," said Suberville, who grew up in Monterrey, Mexico and whose grandparents owned a department store. "I come from a French background, but I am actually Mexican. As a Mexican and as a woman I have always been very inspired by Frida Kahlo, but it was very important for me to not be the Mexican student doing Frida Kahlo. So instead of focusing on her paintings, I focused on her personal life. Frida always said that her whole life was based on two tragedies: Her back accident and her love for Diego Rivera. So it's a very dark, very romantic collection."

It will be exciting to see where these new graduates will end up. Recent graduates Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez (the Proenza Schouler boys) have gone far. Hopefully, Suberville will be as successful as McCollough and Hernandez. Maybe someday soon I can make a post about her new collection at Barney’s.

Here’s the list of Parsons students who also showed their collection at Parsons’ Annual Benefit and Fashion Show:

Boram Oh, Kirstyn Catlett, Nayeon Lee, Yoon Jeong Gee, Sunghiun (Seonghyun) In, Amira Marion, Judy (Yun-Chu) Lee, Hanmin Kim, Sarah Law, Samantha Aprea, Heezu Hwang, Dominique Cammaert, Spencer Phipps, Melissa Luning, Wen Shi, Sylvia Kwan, Andrew Rogers, Esther Marina Shimberg, Hye Seong (Clara) Yoo, Yoon Jung Ha, Grace Shin, Aiden (Seunghoon) Yoo, Bo Bae Lee, HJ Lee, Cullen Meyer, Sara Shahbazi, Rachel Rymar, Hernan Garcia, Woomi Pyo, Freyja Van Noort, Hyun Ah Choi, Jigon Son and Angela (Yang Zi) Gaoxia.


Edit: Tracey Lomrantz attended the event and blogged about her experience and top designer picks.