San Francisco, CA, May 13, 2016 — The School of Fashion at Academy of Art University honored Kate and Laura Mulleavy, founders of Rodarte, at the 2016 Graduation Fashion Show on Wednesday, May 11, 2016. Kate and Laura Mulleavy were each presented with an Honorary Doctorate degree from Academy of Art University by University President, Dr. Elisa Stephens, as well as a Certificate of Honor from the Office of the Mayor of San Francisco, Mayor Edwin M. Lee.
“My goal has always been to bring visionaries to School of Fashion, people who have changed the landscape. Kate and Laura Mulleavy have done just that with Rodarte; they have brought attention back to beautiful, considered, and thought provoking clothing in American fashion,” said Simon Ungless, Executive Director of the School of Fashion. “All of our past Honorary Doctors have gone against the flow and made monumental changes to the way we dress and the way we think. McQueen, Westwood, Gaultier and Alaïa have all broken the rules at some point, and I see the Mulleavys doing that now.”
The fashion show featured collections from students who majored in the areas of Fashion Design, Knitwear Design, Menswear Design, Technical Design, Textile Design and Jewelry/Metal Arts. Select M.F.A. and B.F.A. graduating students will present their work to industry professionals and recruiters at the President’s Reception and Portfolio Review before the fashion show. The fashion show was live streamed and may be viewed at https://www.academyart.edu/Runway
In advance of the fashion show, the School of Fashion hosted two discussions for students. The first was moderated by Academy of Art University Director of Social Media Center & Fashion Journalism Stephan Rabimov and feature special guests Mickey Boardman, Editorial Director of Paper Magazine, and Lars Byrresen Petersen, Digital Director of Visionaire. The second discussion was moderated by Simon Ungless and Christine Suppes, couture collector and co-author of Skira-Rizzoli’s Electric Fashion, and featured guests of honor Kate and Laura Mulleavy.
With our ongoing commitment to providing real world experience in the studio for our students, the show featured collaborative collections beginning with the SHOP657 Collection which is a private label collaborative collection between Fashion Design, Textile Design, Jewelry & Metal Arts, and Fashion Merchandising students. SHOP657 is the School of Fashion’s retail store that features student, alumni, and faculty product. The store is located at 657 Sutter Street, near Union Square, in San Francisco.
In addition to the SHOP657 Collaborative Collection, other collaborations include:
• A Fashion Design and Knitwear Design collaboration
• Three Fashion and Textile Design collaborations – two of which are Menswear Collections
• Two Fashion Design and Jewelry & Metal Arts collaborations
• Two collections with beading by students who studied Tambour Beading
In-house Press Contact:
Ian MacKintosh / 415.618.3849 / imackintosh@academyart.edu