The
Arts of Fashion Foundation
The Arts
of Fashion Foundation
is a 501(c) (3), public, non-profit organization, 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.
The Arts of Fashion Foundation was
created in December 2001 as the U.S. extension of the world
renowned Concours International des Jeunes Créateurs
de Mode, an international student design competition sponsored
by Air France and the Fédération Française
de la Couture, du Prêt-à-Porter des Couturiers
et des Créateurs de Mode. This global competition was
introduced in 1982 in Japan and has grown steadily over the
past 23 years, including over 200 finalists from 17 countries.
With the inception of the U.S. segment of the Foundation,
Nathalie Doucet, a fashion design professor and designer,
based in San Francisco, CA, was chosen as the director. She
has introduced seminars, lectures, debates, and hands-on workshops
to the competition, making the Annual Arts of Fashion Symposium
an extraordinarily rich fashion event. Each year, an honorary
President is chosen by the Foundation, and new lecturers,
from the different facets of fashion design are brought in
to share their experiences with the attendees. Past Presidents
have included: Didier Grumbach (President of the French Fédération
de la Couture, 2002), Charles Kleibacker (Couturier and Curator
of the Columbus Museum of Art, 2003), Florence Muller (Fashion
Art Historian and Curator, 2004), Jean-Charles de Castelbajac
(Iconic Fashion Designer, 2005), Olivier Saillard (Fashion
Curator at the Louvre Fashion Museum, 2006) and Veronique
Branquinho (Contemporary Fashion Designer, 2007).
The successful Tandem-Series, an open
dialogue amongst guest speakers and audience members, is constantly
addressing the challenges and opportunities of the fashion
industry. Soon after, the CarteBlanche-Series was introduced,
giving room to exhibit the works of students, and designers
from around the world. This series allows designers to manage,
set up mounted exhibitions in host galleries and museums.
In 2005, the MasterClass-Series was initiated, offering to
students to work intensively during 5 days under the direction
of world-renowned designers. In 2007, the Debut-Series presented
4 young designer first ever collections on the runway. The
year 2008 will see the opening of unique and creative oriented
4-week summer programs in Europe, in collaboration with the
traditional and public famous applied art schools: Ecole Nationale
Superieure des Arts Visuels de La Cambre - Brussels and the
Ecole Superieure des Arts Appliques de Duperre - Paris.
In April 2006, the Paris organisation
announced it no longer retained its main sponsorship and was
closing the book on an illustrious period of 23 years supporting
and launching thousands of young talented fashion designers.
Fortunately, the Arts of Fashion Foundation has received the
support of our Paris counterpart and was given the Grand Prize
awarded at the final rounds in Paris, the one-year scholarship
at the renowned fashion schools from the Chambre Syndicale
in Paris to present the winners of the U.S. competition, a
six-week scholarship at the creative fashion department La
Cambre Mode[s] in Brussels as well as internships in European
creative fashion design Houses (Anne-Valerie Hash, Jean-Charles
de Castelbajac in Paris, Veronique Branquinho in Antwerp and
Wendy & Jim in Vienna).
Not
only the Arts of Fashion Foundation has entered a new era
in 2007, with the U.S. Competition growing from a national,
to become an international showcase of talent (91 schools
from 29 countries) but YKK of America has joined the foundation
as a new partner, the accessories designer Natalia Brilli
has added her name on the award prestigious list as well as
the qualitative Duperre fashion department from the applied
art school of Paris with a new scholarship.
San Francisco
January 10, 2008
Board of Honors
Didier Grumbach, 2002
Colombe Nicholas, 2002
Charles Kleibacker, 2003
Jiwon Shin, 2003
Francine Pairon, 2003
Gert Van de Keulen, 2003
Emmanuelle Linard, 2003
Philip Fimano, 2003
Summer Skrzelowski, 2003
Florence Muller, 2004
Beth Charleston, 2004
Carole Collet, 2004
Tony Delcampe, 2004
Crstof Beaufays, 2004
Aurore de la Morinerie, 2004
Luciana Val, 2004
Franco Musso, 2004
Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, 2005
Stephanie Coudert, 2005
Hermann Fankhauser, 2005
Helga Scania, 2005
Elodie Blanchard, 2005
Galya Rosenfeld, 2005
Bradley Quinn, 2005
Etienne Mineur, 2005
Elisabeth Paillie, 2005
Kathryn Hillier, 2005
Taiko Onorato, 2005
Nico Krebs, 2005
Olivier Saillard, 2006
Jeffrey Banks, 2006
Alain Coblence, 2006
Anne Valerie Hash, 2006
Peter Hermesdorf, 2006
Francois Brocca, 2006
Susanna Lau, 2006
Anthony Vaccarello, 2006
Julien Dossena, 2006
Veronique Branquinho, 2007
Susan Scafidi, 2007
Ann Claes, 2007
Laurent Edmond, 2007
Thierry Rondenet, 2007
Herve Yvrenogeau, 2007
Daniele Controversio, 2007
Natalia Brilli, 2007
Isabelle Blandiaux, 2007
Sandra Backlund, 2007
Matthieu Blazy, 2007
Megan Stein, 2007
Douglas Reker, 2007
Carlos Santiago, 2007
David Gil, 2007
Board
of Trustees
Dr. Jeanne
Belhumeur
Dr. Katherine Bourguignon
Adrian Cooper
Tony Delcampe
Nathalie Doucet
Dr. Angelo Miatello
Douglas Reker
Jiwon Shin
Board of Officers
Nathalie Doucet,
Fashion Designer, former U.S. Fashion Professor and Coordinator
of the AF-Competition,
Consultant - San Francisco, CA
President of the Arts of Fashion Foundation.
Radley Cramer,
Director, Fashion Design program Marist College - Poughkeepsie
NY & Lorenzo de Medici
Firenze - Italy
Director of Communication & External Affairs - Public
Relation of the Arts of Fashion Foundation.
Jean Parsons, PhD
Associate Professor of Apparel, Educational Studies, and Hospitality
Management - Iowa State University
Director of Collaborative Educational Initiatives & Research
of the Arts of Fashion Foundation.
Charles Freeman,
Fashion Design Teaching Assistant, Florida State University
Director of Educational Activities of the Arts of Fashion
Foundation.
Philippe Houeix,
Interior Architect and Product Designer, P-H-Consulting San
Francisco, CA
Treasurer of the Arts of Fashion Foundation.
John Rebel,
Attorney at Law - Cincinnati, OH
Shady Elias,
Marketing Coordinator, Arts of Fashion Foundation.
