I have always been very grateful to count myself among the alumni of Parson’s School of Design’s Fashion Design program, class of 1984. Today I read a wonderful interview from my classmate, Marc Jacobs in the current issue of re:DE, our alumni magazine.
Marc described what it was like when we were there, mentioning some of the amazing talent in our class. It brought me back to a time of enormous personal growth. The program brought together people from all over the world, from very different socioeconomic backgrounds and levels of expertise, all hand selected by our terrifying director, Anne Kaigy. She ruled with an iron fist and no one dared to question her judgement. I still remember waiting to meet with her for my interview, watching people walk into her office with great confidence and then exit on the run in tears. The program was rigorous and designed to either bring out your personal best or break you. We all inspired each other. I loved that Marc has actually kept his original sketch of the designs that won him the Perry Ellis Gold Thimble award.
Marc acknowledges that everything is a collaboration. As I strive to extend my reach and continue to grow as an artist and explore, it is exciting to meet people and let their influence wash over me. I love the quote, “What would you do if you knew you could not fail”? When asked if failure is part of his creative process, Marc’s response was, “There’s no such thing as failure-it’s all a matter of context and timing”. That is probably why he has come through so much and is so successful. We are all in this together and the journey is a lot more fun with our friends.