There was a refreshing sense of lightness and a nice balance between design and materiality in the show that showcased the work of twenty students graduating in Pratt’s Class of 2024. Overall, it felt more “fashion” than the understandable navel-gazing. student shows that marked the pandemic. Don’t get me wrong, these students don’t look at the world through rose-colored glasses, but there is a renewed sense of confidence and purpose, especially when it comes to environmental issues and inclusivity of scale. (The latter was central to the collections of Zoë Knaack;Madison Newcombe.
Opener tones Shayna Block focused on the intersection of craft and machine, showcasing both programmed and handmade knits containing the detritus of a digital life, such as parts of keyboards, charging cables and headphones. Other types of connections, involving heredity and home/place, were also explored. Inspired by the fishing village of his childhood in Rhode Island, Sean McGiveney;gave an elegant workwear twist to American sportswear, while the designs of Junxuan Guo were an amalgamation of his impressions of New York, Hong Kong and Shenzhen. The global popularity of performance clothing shows no signs of slowing down and was represented in the lineups of Scott Junjie Wang and Anna Felton. Clothes for a more apocalyptic world were shown Malek Rasmussen.
Zhouyi WangBrendan Sheerin’s collection, inspired by monks, exuded tranquility, while Brendan Sheerin’s work had the precision and charm of Shaker stoicism. Quiet seemed to be the new loud for a large number of students (see Dayeon Jeong and Jen Sohyun Park), but there were notable exceptions to that rule. As the title Falling Stars and Other Heartbreaks suggests: Eilig Orff‘s designs played with a hyper-femininity and had a cheerful fairytale quality (unlike Shutyan (Jane) Jin’s more sinister Rapunzels). Emilio Pompettia footballer turned designer rose to the top with a colorful, graphically rich range of casual wear that earned him the Christopher Hunte “On Point” Award, which recognizes design excellence.
