“Fashion is my life right now. Fashion is about the clothing,” says this 19 year old from San Francisco. She describes her collection with a single word, “metal,” and says she looks to Alexander McQueen and Helmut Lang for inspiration. Ali’s passion for fashion started early. “When I was 3 years old I would change 5 times a day. I knew there had to be a future there,” and she is hoping Fusion will brighten her fashion future.

 

 

“Fashion is an expression of personal style,” says this 18 year old from Philadelphia. “Parsons is suppose to be the best and I came here to be the best with the best,” she says. Meghan calls her collection “club clothing…extravagant and outrageous but wearable.” She proudly admits to being inspired by Lil’ Kim and the hip hop movement, not to mention John Galliano and Alexander McQueen. “I like to be as creative as I can.”

 

 

“Fashion is an art form,” says this 18 year old from Long Island. When asked about her collection, Natalie only offers up “medieval inspiration.” She says she really doesn’t watch other designers either. So, how did Natalie, who dresses the modern rock group Stage, get into fashion? “When I was 15, my mom bought me a sewing machine because she said I had everything I needed. I knew what I wanted to wear but couldn’t find it, so she told me to make it myself.”

 

 

“Fashion is a form of expression. My appreciation has really evolved and now has a deeper connotation to me,” says this 19 year old from Philadelphia. “If you had to classify my collection it would be evening gown couture. Themes such as restriction, decadence built on a simplistic foundation, cold colors and the Elizabethan era are key,” he says. Vera Wang and Randolph Duke are two designers he cites as idols.

“Fashion, right now, is about legs,” says this 20 year old from New Hampshire matter-of-factly. Her collection is going to be a platform for her current anglophilia, which has become a self-described “obsession.” Pixie currently looks to Marc Jacobs as her inspiration “because he’s not afraid to overtly girlie with his womenswear” Asked why she came to Parsons, her response was as blunt as her collection is going to be, “to get the fuck out of farmtown.”

 

 

 

 

“Fashion for me is creativity, a whole new world, manipulation, and fun,” says this 23 year old from Puerto Rico. His ideas for his collection have come from a very unconventional source in being “the paper bag, the construction of it. Add to that a sexy, aggressive urban hipster woman.” Miguel has been influenced by John Galliano and Yohji Yamamoto, who he says “isn’t afraid to transform women’s bodies.” After he graduates, he says he “wants to be fucking famous.” We at Fusion have no doubt he will.

 

“Fashion is an outward representation of who you are inwardly,” says this 18 year old from Seattle. He describes his collection as “surgical surplus haute couture,” and looks to Helmut Lang, Jeremy Scott and John Galliano to help him achieve his goal. His situation at Parsons is unique in that this is his senior year in high school, thanks to early entry. Chris is very excited to close the show saying, “it’s the most incredible thing. I’m honored.”

 

 

“Fashion is personal style and personality and something to play around with,” says this 18 year old New York City native. Her love for fashion began early when at the age of 11 she went shopping at Bloomingdales with her father. “I liked everything about this sweater except for the pockets, and my dad said that fashion designers were responsible for that. He told me that I could change them if I were one,” she says. Erica’s collection is “40’s mixed with 80’s, very glam and stylish.” She refers to Stella McCartney as her “star.”

 

 

 

“Fashion is an artistic expression,” says this 22 year old from Los Angeles who dreams of being her own boss. She says she’s very much inspired by the Chinese culture, the 1800’s, empire dresses, and Valentino. “His clothing is so elegant and sets a mood,” she says. She is doing Fusion for the experience of working with models, outfits, and time to see if she can handle it. But, no matter, she plans on taking the whole experience with her.

 

 

 

“Fashion is self expression,” says this 18 year old Rochester, New York native. Erin looks to Valentino for inspiration, and says Fusion is a wonderful opportunity to express herself and allows others to see her work. “I want my own boutique someday, and I chose Parsons because it’s one of the best.”

 

 

 

 

“Fashion is knowing powers you possess as an individual and using them to the best of your capabilities. Fashion is clever,” says this 19 year old from Philadelphia. She describes her collection as “unconstricted sophistication” and “elaborate, but not conspicuous.” Clothing has always been on her mind, whether looking at inspirations such as Yves St. Laurent and John Galliano…or her mother. “My mother was a children’s clothing designer and basically all the attention I got growing up was from what I was wearing. I learned very early people notice what you wear.”

 

 

 

 

“Fashion is art. You have to love it in order to have power in your designs,” says this 18 year old from New Jersey. She plans on using her culture, specifically the Korean traditional costume, in her collection and working it into a modern way. With idols such as Alexander McQueen, Issey Miyake and John Galliano, Jane shouldn’t have a hard time achieving her goal of “wanting to be successful and happy on my own terms and having no regrets.”

 

 

 

 

 

“Fashion is an expression of indivuality,” says this 18 year old from Chicago. Her collection is more costume than anything and inspired by the Roman era, “if all goes well.” Nicole hopes to go to London after graduating to study at St. Martins, where she wants to pursue a career in costume design. She attended Parsons summer program and loved it so much she stayed. Asked about designers that influence her work, Nicole responds with a very honest, “it depends on the season.”

“Fashion is being whatever you want it to be,” says this 18 year from New Jersey. “I’ve been sewing my own stuff for a couple of years now,” she says, and reveals only that wire will be part of her collection. Esther possibly wants to go into the textile industry and says Yohji Yamamoto has helped her with that decision. “He’s completely different from everybody else. It’s wearable, but different.”

 

 

 

“Fashion is what you want it to be, it depends on how you work it,” says this 19 year old from Philadelphia. She cites Issey Miyake as a mentor because “his clothes take on shapes you usually don’t see and he bridges the gap between fashion and fine art.” Mariel describes her collection as afro-asian inspired Avant Garde with basket weaving. She got her start in the 5th grade when she told her parents she wanted to be a fashion designer. Their response was, “what about being a scientist?” We are glad she stuck with it.

“Fashion is art which is often mistaken for profit. At this moment fashion to me is vulnerable,” says this 22 year old from Annapolis, Maryland. She already has a BF in fashion design from West Virginia University and is now attending Parsons Associates program to hone in on her pattern making skills. Heather is participating in Fusion to gain experience of designing a line from beginning to end and looks to Imitation of Christ and Jil Sander to help her create that line. “My goal is to create clothes that can be worn everyday.”

“Fashion defines personality and cultural background,” says Lunsford, a 19 year old from Louisville, Kentucky. "Fashion is self-expression," says Jen, a 20 year old from Upper Weschester, New York. Jen's obsession with clothing started early she says, " I use to rip up scarves and wrap them around me. I'd staple them, tape them, tie them, all of it. My mom ended up sending me to a Catholic School so I wouldn't fret over what to wear!" “Where I’m from, fashion isn’t a big deal, so I think that is something that interested me because it was something different,” Brandy says of her start. Brandy admires Issey Miyake for his “technique behind the clothing. It’s 3D and I love that.”

 

Danielle McCartney and Felicia Spodek

 

Prabal Gurung