The 12th Annual New York Fashion Conference
Thursday-Saturday, December 2-4, 2010

What do we value in fashion and design? The rare? The classic? Or, the new? Do we value that which is eco-sensitive or the beautiful-but-scarce? Do we value a maker’s history of integrity, a corporate commitment to quality, a dedication to a tradition of craft? Or do we prize an object or garment irrespective of who made it or what went into creating it?

Fashion is ephemeral and of the moment, while maintaining a dialogue with the past. Hence, the recent passion for “vintage” clothing merits close consideration.

Subversion of traditional markers of quality through the use of deliberately raveled edges and raw seams or the use of uncut stones raises new questions. How do we now define superior craftsmanship, fine materials, and creative design? Is the challenge of the 21st century reconciling the whimsical and the aesthetic with the sustainable, the fashionable with the serviceable? What does luxury mean in the 21st century? How do we define value today?

Evening events at Fred Leighton (December 2) and at What Goes Around Comes Around (December 3) complement the talks and panels which take place at CUNY Graduate Center, Fifth Avenue @ 34th Street

Presenters and panelists (as of September 30, 2010)

• Larry Pettinelli, president, Patek Philippe USA
• Hal Rubenstein, fashion director, InStyle Magazine
• Catherine Moelering, EVP, Tobe, a division of the Doneger Group and publisher of the iconic Tobe Report
• Designers Anna Sui, Koos Van Den Akker, and Fr. Andrew More O’Connor, founder, Goods of Conscience
• Hamish Bowles, European Editor at Large, Vogue and curator, “Balenciaga: Spanish Master”
• Jewelers Todd Reed, Prince Dimitri, Gregory Kwiat, CEO, Fred Leighton and Partner, Kwiat, and Adam Heyman of the legendary firm Oscar Heyman Bros.
• Daniel Storto, avant-garde couture glove designer
• Women of style Patsy Tarr and Tziporah Salamon
• Amy Leonard, senior vice president, product development and sourcing, Levi Strauss
• Lincoln Schatz, photographer who was commissioned by Esquire to capture the 100 most influential people as part of its 75th anniversary (piece now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, SI)
• Edward Maeder, former curator of costumes Los Angeles County Museum of Art and founding director BATA Shoe museum
• Juliana Cairone, owner, Rare Vintage
• Jan Glier Reeder, consulting curator, Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Karen Augusta, founder, Augusta Auctions, America’s top auction house specializing in couture and vintage clothing
• Phyllis Magidson, curator of Costume and Textiles, Museum of the City of New York
• Laura Crow, award-winning designer for Broadway and off-Broadway
• David Wolfe, chief forecaster, Doneger Group
• Authors Joan De Jean, The Essence of Chic and The Age of Comfort, Sandy Black, Eco-Chic: The Fashion Paradox; Pamela Keogh, Are You a Jackie or a Grace?; and Mitchell Owens author of a forthcoming book on Pauline de Rothschild
• Sara Reiter, chief textile conservator, Philadelphia Museum of Art
• David Ornstein, promoter, Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show; founder, Daybreak Vintage Clothing in Albany, NY. a costume house for movies and theater
• Patti Geolat, founder and CEO Geolat, Dallas TX, a widely-known authority on the appraisal and sale of fine jewelry For more information, contact: Initiatives in Art and Culture at info@artinitiatives.com. Tel. 646-485-1952; Fax. 212-935-6911

Click here for more information and to register for this event.