Loulou de la Falaise
Titti Matteoni
Zac Posen
Zac Posen
Charlotte Lurot
Titti Matteoni
Dr. Elisa Stephens, President of the University
Loulou de la Falaise
Robin Givhan
The Fashion Symposium included fashion icon Loulou de la Falaise, fashion editor Robin Givhan of The Washington Post, and fashion designer Zac Posen. They addressed the students during a question and answer period along with Charlotte Lurot, director of Bacchus PR in London, and Titti Matteoni, editor-in-chief of Fashion magazine in Italy.
The people of the panel are all amazingly talented. They are powerful and intelligent, as well as worldly known. The feeling I had when sitting in the audience of the 3 o’clock panel discussion was of utter excitement. It is wonderful to be surrounded by artistic people, students and professionals alike. Robin Givhan was one of the most powerful speakers. She is strong, witty, and extremely intelligent. I have such respect for her as a writer and fashion critic. It was great to hear Zac Posen and Loulou de la Falaise speak of their experience as designers. They explained the difficulties of designing and did not hold back on their own personal challenges. I think it was important to hear about the difficulties in the industry, so students understand that it is not always glamorous. Charlotte Lurot is incredibly funny and bright. She works in another very challenging industry, which entails the involvedness of constantly dealing with people. After spending the day with Titti, I learned a lot from her. I think the panel discussion was difficult for her, as her English is not extremely developed. She is a very strong woman with great respect for the fashion industry.
Here are quotes from the panel that I felt were influential:
“You have to follow your creative visions and create word of mouth.” – Zac Posen
“I am a thorn in the side of designers.” – Robin Givhan
“Fashion is all about passion!” – Loulou de la Falaise
“Clothes are incredibly symbolic.” – Robin Givhan, when referring to Nancy Pelosi and her various scarves on her Middle East visit.
“Passion is necessary to build your own identity.” – Titti Matteoni
“It’s difficult out there. Get the right team around you, because you cannot do it on all your own!” – Charlotte Lurot
Written by Sydney Pfaff, BFA Fashion Journalism
