Liz Claiborne announces gift to Parsons The New School for Design
02 May '07
3 min read
Parsons alumni form a who's who list in fashion, from such legendary designers as Adrian, Claire McCardell, and Norman Norell, to industry leaders Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs, Donna Karan, Isaac Mizrahi, Narciso Rodriguez,and Yeohlee Teng, to emerging talents such as Doo.Ri, Derek Lam, Proenza Schouler, Behnaz Sarafpour, Peter Som, and the newest voices including Chris Benz, Vena Cava and Ashleigh Verrier.
"This significant gift demonstrates the commitment that industry leaders such as Liz Claiborne have placed on the importance of education in the development of fashion designers," said Tim Marshall, the dean of Parsons.
"In these times, there are many factors that go into being a successful designer from business and marketing abilities to a sense of history and social context which is what we try to bring to bear in the classroom."
Parsons offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, where students confront the challenges of the real world of the fashion industry while cultivating a personal design philosophy that is fully realized in a senior year thesis collection.
The school also offers Associate Degrees in Fashion Studies and Fashion Marketing, and has recently announced future plans for a Master of Fine Arts Program in Fashion Design and Society, initiated through an endowed professorship by Parsons Alumna Donna Karan.
The MFA program will provide more sophisticated training for designers who already demonstrate exceptional talent in the field. The program will place fashion within a global context, and incorporate such studies as business, marketing, technology, ecology and design history.
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