Photos by Pat Yuen.
For the past 25 years, Macy’s Passport has showcased the best of designer and trend fall collections for men, women and children in a theatrical runway show of superstar models, celebrity guests and internationally acclaimed designers. It is one of the premiere fundraisers for HIV/AIDS programs in America, and has raised $25 million for research, care and prevention agencies.
This year Academy of Art University fashion students shared the runway with Calvin Klein, burlesque star Dita Von Teese and Dame Elizabeth Taylor, who received the “Humanitarian Award” for her work in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
“We are honored to have our young designers recognized by Macy’s Passport,” said Simon Ungless, Director of Graduate Fashion. “This is the third year that Macy’s has included University students in their show and the exposure is great for their careers.”
The Macy’s Passport Gala Festivities begin in San Francisco with three nights of events and move onto Los Angeles for two more. This year brought performances by Cirque du Soleil; Spirit of Uganda, an award-winning African youth dance troop headed by artistic director Peter Kasule; and a group of young American performers trained by star choreographer Brian Friedman.
School of Fashion students included in this years show were Su-In Yoon, Kenneth Ning, Yu-Shin ‘Mue’ Kim, Maho Fujita, Sook-Yeong Kwon, Dulce Chavez, Virgil Sparks, Aisha Drake, Helen Jang, Megan Rork, and Ashleigh Tucker.
The San Francisco Chronicle included a photo of Ashleigh Tucker’s eco-friendly design and wrote that our students “provided a burst of creativity with beautifully tailored monochromatic knitwear, stunning dresses made using French Rabbit eco-friendly wine packaging to replicate fringe, paillettes and metal, and Kenneth Ning’s vibrant patent jackets in primary colors.”
California Apparel News featured Ashleigh’s design on their October 5th cover.
Fashion writer of the Oakland Tribune, Dino-Ray Ramos, wrote on his blog that he needs to hire Kenneth Ning “as my personal tailor…”
ABC’s View From The Bay television show featured our students in a segment on the show and interviewed Director of Graduate Fashion Simon Ungless, and students Megan Rork, Su-In Yoon and Yu-Shin ‘Mue’ Kim with their designs.
