It is that time of the year when those fashionable people flock to New York for Fashion Week, but it is also when Parsons MFA Fashion Design & Society holds their annual exhibition showcase. The showcase spotlights the Thesis Collections of 12 designers from its student body. The annual event, which took place this September 5th, includes various installations and a special collaboration with fragrance manufacturer the Robertet Group and was hosted by Chargeurs. We caught up with one special designer, Tara Babylon, to get her perspective on fashion, the festivities, and the future.
Babylon, who’s colorful collection was on display at the exhibit, explained to us her inspiration. She said, “It’s a contemporary expression of my life’s living,” with regards to her collection. She went on to say her collection has also been a reflection of the experiences and places she’s lived. “I’ve used every city I’ve lived in as a springboard for inspiration,” having been born in Iraq, grown up in the UK and now living in New York she said. She added, “so, I have all these references and I just start exploring fabrics and textiles with all these different references and they all just merged together and became one collection.”
As for the night’s festivities that honored Parsons MFA program, Babylon says the program has pushed her as a designer. “It [the program] has developed me to the nth degree,” she said. “I’ve really been able to explore textiles to the maximum and to just like to push the limits,” she adds. She explains, “this program— all the textile learning development has been an amazing learning experience.”
As for where she sees the future of fashion and its trends, Babylon thinks things will be more about experimentation and color. She says she sees the future “ being more experimental like to think more outside the box like to you things that aren’t necessarily considered fashion as a fashionable piece to maybe use your belt as a choker.” She adds, “I love color. I want to see more color in general in clothes like I don’t want to see anymore black beige or gray.” Overall she said she thinks fashion’s future will be less serious and more open.
-Emerson Unger
