The Arts of Fashion Foundation is a 501(c) (3), public, non-profit organization, based in San Francisco, California, linking both academics and professionals alike and is dedicated in fostering international cultural exchange through the creation of a variety of educational events meant to facilitate critical thinking among artists, designers, scholars and students. The primary focus of the foundation is the continuous support of creativity and design in fashion and the arts linked to it.
Contents |
The International Arts of Fashion Competition, held at a different city each year across the nation, selects a number of fashion students with outstanding creations relating to a theme given each year from many countries around the world. The chosen finalists will present their designs during the Finale Fashion Show at the AoF Annual Symposium. Students will compete for what they need most to perfect their fashion education: development of techniques, creativity, and professional networking.
Competition Locations and Themes:
2011 Theme: "Tension", The 10th Anniversary of the Arts of Fashion Foundation
2010 in San Francisco, California, at the Bently Reserve. Theme: Uniquely Untrendy
2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Theme: "Illusion"
2008 in San Francisco, California at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Theme: "Influence"
2007 in Miami, Florida at the historic Alfred I. Dupont Building. Theme: "Confusion"
Current Awards:
Internship opportunity with Anne Valerie Hash in Paris
Internship opportunity with Jean-Charles de Castelbajac in Paris
Internship opportunity with Jerome Dreyfuss in Paris
Internship opportunity with Manish Arora in New Delhi
Internship opportunity with Nice Collective in San Francisco
Scholarship for 4 weeks with the Arts of Fashion Summer MasterClass program in Paris hosted by the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris in the famous Le Louvre
The MasterClass Series is a series of intensive 4-day professional designer classes. First initiated in 2005 with great success, this series offer students the opportunity to work under the direction of world-renowned designers to stimulate their creative ability. Students will be asked to construct specific fashion projects with the guidance of the professional designers, and be able to present their works in the fashion show along with the finalists from the International AoF Competition.
The MasterClass Series 2010
Fashion & ICON, directed by Matthieu Blazy, Julie Perrin and Matthew Ames
Fashion & COUTURE, directed by Anthony Vaccarello and David Duby
Fashion & SURFACE, directed by Aurore Thibout and Laurence Teillet
AoF International Summer Program in Paris
In partnership with such educational institutions the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris in the famous Le Louvre, the Arts of Fashion Summer programs are meant to increase and develop creativity by exposing students to new techniques and different design approaches. Each Summer program is taught in English with the professional fashion designers for 20 selected students.
AoF International Winter Programs in New York
A 2-week Winter Program was launched in January 2009 in partnership with one of the leading American fashion schools: Parsons The New School for Design, in New York.
Introduced in 2004, the CarteBlanche Series gives room to exhibit the works of fashion and artist designers from around the world. This series allow designers to present their work on the runway or set up mounted exhibitions in host galleries and museums.
The Debut Series is premiered and aimed at promoting and assisting rising design talent within the United States. In 2009, the Debut series presented its third edition of young design talent with 3 emerging designers -Amy Sarabi, Chelsea Snyder, and Julianne Thibodeaux. The designers in addition to showing their garments on the runway, received courtesy of the sponsor- YKK Group, a stipend helping in the construction of the collection. The 3 emerging designers also have the opportunity to present and display their garments at the prestigious Debut gallery in New York.
The previous young designers chosen for the Debut Series in 2007 were Douglas Reker, Carlos Santiago, Megan Stein and David Gil. In 2008, the selected designers were Natallia Pilipenka, Akarasun Seanglai and Stephanie Otto.
The Tandem Series and Fashion.edu provide open dialogue amongst the guest speakers, professionals, faculty members, and students, and are constantly addressing the challenges and opportunities of the fashion industry and academia.
Design Piracy Prohibition Act
The Arts of Fashion Foundation has long been an advocate in the development of copyright laws to protect designers. In June 2009, the foundation, in connection with the Council of Fashion Designers of America, created a petition in support of the Design Piracy Prohibition Act - IDPPPA (S.3728). During the AoF Symposium 2009, fashion activist and law professor Susan Scafidi held a lecture in educating the public of designer protection rights. [1]
InvestFashion is a project developed by the founder of the Arts of Fashion Foundation, Nathalie Doucet. The website is an online platform (a spin-off of the Debut-Series) created to finance promising entrepreneurial fashion designers. It is geared towards uniting the general public and fashion lovers who want to be financially and emotionally linked to the development of a new generation of creative designers. The first SIX designers chosen: Aurore Thibout, Natallia Pilipenka, Lucile Puton, Bora Han, Chelsea Snyder, Akarasun Seanglai.