The Pratt Institute Class of 2024’s graduating fashion show was a refreshing departure from the navel-gazing student shows that marked the pandemic. The show presented a sense of lightness and a nice balance between design and materiality, with a renewed sense of confidence and purpose among the students.
Environmental issues and size inclusivity were key themes in the collections. Show opener focused on the intersection of craft and machine, showing both programmed knits and handmade ones that contained the detritus of a digital life, such as parts of keyboards, charging wires, and headphones. Other types of connection, to heredity and home/place, were explored as well. Inspired by the fishing town of his Rhode Island youth, gave an elegant workwear twist to American sportswear, while the designs of were an amalgam of his impressions of New York, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen.
The global popularity of performance wear shows no sign of slowing down, and was represented in the lineups of Wang and . Clothes for a more apocalyptic world were shown by .
‘s collection, which was inspired by monks, exuded serenity, while Brendan Sheerin’s work had the rigor and charm of Shaker stoicism. Quiet seemed to be the new loud for a good number of students (see Dayeon Jeong and Jen Sohyun Park), but there were notable exceptions to that rule. As its title—Falling Stars and Other Heartbreaks—suggests, ‘s designs played with a hyper-femininity and had a cheery fairytale quality (in contrast to Shutyan (Jane) Jin’s more sinister Rapunzels.)
, a soccer player-turned designer, was at the top of their game with a colorful, graphic-rich lineup of casualwear that scored him the Christopher Hunte “On Point” Award, recognizing design excellence.
