Philadelphia University was honored May 8 by A Chance to Heal for sponsoring last fall’s Body Diversity fashion show and for promoting innovations in fashion education and industry standards.

“As the area’s leading fashion design school, Philadelphia University has a unique role in helping the fashion industry think about the way consumers view and interact with their bodies,” according to A Chance to Heal.  “They have encouraged students to think about the influence that they can have on the future of fashion in ways that celebrate body diversity.”

Natalie Weathers, assistant professor of Fashion Industry Management, and David Ciuper, Fashion Design senior, accepted the award on behalf of the University.  Weathers and Ciuper helped coordinate the November fashion show, presented in partnership with A Chance to Heal, which encouraged designers to make fashions appropriate for a wide range of body types and sizes.  

“The Body Diversity event was one more great opportunity for our students to showcase their design talents, particularly for a market that is undervalued,” Weathers said.  “We appreciate being recognized for innovation in education.”

The awarded was presented at the 3rd anniversary celebration of A Chance to Heal, a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing eating disorders through early diagnosis, education and advocacy.

Three Fashion Design students have won this year’s red dress competition sponsored by the American Heart Association and will have their fabulous red dresses modeled at the 5th annual Go Red for Women luncheon and fundraiser next month.

In the meantime, the striking scarlet designs of Krystie Kocsi, Carrie Hansen and Andjela Vukancic will be prominently displayed in a window at the Macy’s Center City store along the 1300 block of Chestnut Street.

Kocsi, a junior, designed the top winning dress for the AHA’s Red Dress Design Contest, which also earned her an internship this summer with Urban Outfitters, Inc., the Philadelphia-based apparel company that also includes Anthropologie and Free People.  Kocsi’s design, inspired by the shape of a tulip, included hand-made rosettes on crinkled, poly-silk fabric that she used to represent fine-textured flower petals.

Vukancic, a senior, designed a Grecian-inspired chiffon short dress, and Carrie Hansen, a junior, updated a traditional Japanese print and silhouette and used hand-painted and hand-stitched details for her cotton organdy layers designed to evoke the image of fans.

“I want to give special thanks to the fashion professors and students at Philadelphia University for supporting this effort,” Rosemary Loverdi, attorney and co-chair of the Go Red corporate committee, said at a May 6 press conference at Macy’s to unveil the red dress window.  “These students really do represent the talent this institution is world-renowned for producing.”

The Philadelphia Go Red for Women luncheon and the red dress competition are designed to raise awareness of heart disease in women and raise funds for research and prevention.  Heart disease is the number one killer of women in America, according to the AHA.  Last year’s luncheon and fashion show was attended by 675 people and raised $540,000. 

The three winning designs were chosen from a field of 18 submitted by area design students last month.  The dresses will be modeled at the Philadelphia Go Red for Women luncheon on June 6 at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue.  For more information, go to www.goredforwomen.org or call 610-234-2401.

The Design Center has received a $200,000 grant from the Philadelphia Exhibitions Initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts in support of the Fall 2009 exhibition “Lace in Translation.”  

“We are extremely honored and excited to be selected by the PEI judges and to receive their support for this extraordinary exhibition,” said Hilary Jay, executive director of The Design Center.  “This grant will help put us at the forefront of design and art exhibitions and further enhance our reputation as a leading national cultural arts organization.”

The exhibition will assemble a group of internationally renowned artists and designers – Tord Boontje, Demakersvan and Cal Lane – to explore the intersection of luxurious hand-crafted workmanship with modern, mass production techniques through new installations located throughout The Design Center’s grounds and galleries.  Inspired by the Center’s historic Quaker Lace archives, the commissioned works will utilize unexpected materials and technologies to reconceptualize conventional notions of lace and challenge the supposed dichotomy between traditional and contemporary design.

The prestigious PEI grant is funded by Pew and administered by the University of the Arts.  The judges are nationally recognized curators and directors from institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York.

Fashion Design senior Amy Lyddane won a $2,500 scholarship for the glamorous gown she designed for a Hollywood-inspired design competition and fashion show held May 1 at Bloomingdale’s in King of Prussia.

For the competition, students had to design an outfit that a Hollywood star could wear on the red carpet.  Lyddane’s design was inspired by actress Helena Bonham Carter’s unique look and spirit.  Philadelphia University Fashion Design students Shannan Carlino and Jessica Gardner also were selected as finalists in the competition, which awarded one scholarship to a student from each of the six design programs that participated in the event.

All the designs were modeled at the Hollywood Stars’ Red Carpet Design Competition and Gene London’s Hollywood Stars’ Historic Costume Collection Fashion Show, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Screen Actors’ Guild.  The scholarship was sponsored by the Fashion Group of Philadelphia’s Educational foundation.