Parsons Pre-College Students Illustrate NYC Sidewalk Catwalk

The Parsons pre-college summer intensive class sketching the Sidewalk Catwalk mannequins in NYC’s Garment Center.

The Parsons pre-college summer intensive class
sketching the Sidewalk Catwalk mannequins
in NYC’s Garment Center.

Students don’t always look to school for their summer vacation, but a chance to experience Parsons The New School for Design attracted many high school seniors.

Last Friday I just completed teaching a 4-week summer intensive course in Fashion Drawing with 16 very motivated high school seniors excited to begin their college career in fashion design. Working in collaboration with their Concepts instructor Gene Lakin, the class illustrated and designed their vision, for some, for the very first time.

Parsons is known for its rigorous curriculum graduating many of the industry’s top designers. The fashion pre-college program at Parsons is an invaluable opportunity for high school students to begin and nurture their fashion sensibility while living in New York City.

Developing the student’s design illustration skills, sketching quick poses is essential to understand the live model’s movement, clothing volume and drape. But The Fashion Center Side Walk Catwalk public art display of 32 designer original mannequins presented by LF USA was an irresistible exercise.

The Parsons pre-college summer intensive class sketching the Sidewalk Catwalk mannequins in NYC’s Garment Center.

Student designers chose their favorite mannequin and began sketching their illustration. The fashion still life provided an opportunity to study in detail the construction, drape, finishes and begin the process to abstract the fashion figure. And spending a few hours in the Garment Center, the pre-college class acquired the industry’s frenetic pace.

The Parsons pre-college summer intensive class sketching the Sidewalk Catwalk mannequins in NYC’s Garment Center.

As we were finishing, I met CNN.com reporter Brooke Elliott researching her story of the Sidewalk Catwalk. Another aspect to the assignment as I discussed with Brooke was to share the Garment Center’s controversy with the students. With organizations like Save the Garment Center to maintain the current zoning for fashion related manufacturing and wholesale, the Sidewalk Catwalk brings public awareness to the Garment Center’s productivity and creativity.

The Parsons pre-college summer intensive class sketching the Sidewalk Catwalk mannequins in NYC’s Garment Center.

Browse through the gallery below of the pre-college student Sidewalk Catwalk sketches and click on the thumbnail to view a larger image.

Chiara Barlow sketches Elie Tahari

Isabelle Levine sketches Rachel Roy

Julia Rosenthal sketches Nanette Lepore

Deirdre Gaine sketches Jason Wu

Emma Leppo sketches Prabal Gurung

Rachel Richter sketches Tommy Hilfiger

Brooke Benson sketches Jill Stuart

Michaela Overton sketches Jason Wu

Mary Diamond sketches Elie Tahari

Annica Litavis sketches Badgely Mischka

Madison Mckinley sketches Isaac Mizrahi

Madeline Gong sketches Nanette Lepore

Alli Whitehead sketches Victor Alfaro

Lubov Dudenko sketches Rachel Roy

Kimber Walker sketches Parsons

About Geoffry

Hey, thanks for reading! I'm a designer, artist, educator and creative enthusiast working in the fashion industry for 20+ years writing about design, art and sometimes politics. You can send me a note or a question about a recent post using the links below.

Portfolio | Digital Design Therapy | I'm on Twitter | Email me | RSS Feed