For her fall 2024 collection, Tory Burch was preoccupied with making “the everyday sublime.” Similarly, the third year Parsons students who were competing for a paid summer internship at her brand earlier this week were focused on making upcycled materials into extraordinary new garments.
The concept, which builds on Tory Burch’s own sustainability efforts, was this: Old samples, discards, and extra materials were donated to a class at the design school. The professor then divided the pieces up and assigned them to the 268 students to remake in a way that expressed Tory Burch’s brand values. A few students received full pieces, another got just a multitude of shoestrings. Each of them had three weeks to complete the assignment, and their professor chose eight finalists to present their work to the designer and her team.
Starting with a flower-trimmed shirt, Yu-Tent Tori Chen created a printed cape-top, as the start of an imagined collection based on the subject of love. Working with a “live for yourself” theme, Silin Gu crafted a wine carrier with an orange handle and bottom, and even made a lamp from a shoe box, cutting pieces out in a T shape and adding lights. A polka-dot mini dress was transformed into a top with strands of intricately crafted baubles made of scrap materials and beads by Olive Eng-Canty who wanted to explore movement. Building on Burch’s equestrian interests Alicia Corradini made a jockey-inspired suit that incorporated the crop top she received. And continuing the sport theme, Kailey Kim combined tennis influences with wrestling ones, crafting her own textile out of strips of the dress that was her starting point.
Having looked through one of the brand’s books, Yuhe Tracy Lin landed on stripes as a starting point to which she added a figural line drawing from Louise Bourgeois. The result was an anorak with a removable hood and a curved back with an opening conceived to be a “window” onto the irregularly woven strips of green fabric that formed the reverse side of a skirt. The idea was to embrace imperfection. Rose Qi was also interested in straight lines. Having received shoe laces, she tried different weaving tactics before laying them side by side with the logo tips facing out. The way the laces were placed created an Art Deco-ish pattern that echoed some of New York City’s famous architecture. Tying up the presentations was Zhuoying Dai, who laser cut Tory Burch shopping bags into a chic perforated tote. She used the same technique for a hat, a belt, eyewear, and jewelry with removable charms, all made of paper or vellum.
Delighted with the students’ results, Burch explained that she got into fashion by working with a tailor to alter vintage pieces and treasures from her mother’s closets, essentially working with what was at hand. Of the Parsons project she said: “It shows you can take anything and be super creative with it and create something else.”