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Anna Wintour and
Calvin Klein Address Graduates
at FIT
Commencement
NEW YORK — Anna Wintour
gave a history lesson to the more than 2,000 students and
throngs of family and friends amassed at Radio City Music Hall
Friday for the Fashion Institute of Technology’s 57th
commencement exercises (on May 23, 2003).
The Vogue editor in chief’s address to the class of 2003
described the fashion industry’s evolution from elitist roots
to a democratized state today. Wintour said when she entered
the business as the most “junior of junior” editors at
Harper’s & Queen in her native London, fashion was something
worn by a limited section of society, which also meant that
the magazine and fashion industry were taken less seriously
than they are today.
Couture shows, she said, were black-tie affairs held in either
Roman palazzos or in Paris, which clearly reinforced her point
that, at the time, people with time and money on their hands
wore fashion, while everyone else wore clothes.
“J.Lo might be wearing Sixties’ Valentino couture to the
Oscars now, but she would not have been allowed anywhere near
the show where that dress first appeared,” Wintour said. “If a
designer was famous, it was in a small, elitist way. Nowadays,
someone like Calvin [Klein] is a world-famous artist whose
name operates as a huge cultural force.”
Wintour said the public’s concern about and attention to style
has never been greater, which means more avenues for those
entering the design field.
“Although there may not be a hiring frenzy out there at this
moment,” said Wintour, “there have, historically speaking,
never been more opportunities for those who are determined and
creative. If you do not succeed in landing the plum fashion
design job that you’ve long dreamed of, with resourcefulness
and self-belief and, above all, flexibility, you will succeed
in the end.”
Wintour cited several key figures in the industry — who also
happened to be FIT graduates — who took creativity and worked
it into a diverse career, including Candy Pratts Price,
Rebecca Moses and Michael Kors. The most recent careers
Wintour cited included Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough,
who started Proenza Schouler after graduating from Parsons
School of Design last year.
“When I was thinking about what to say to you, I decided to
tap the brain of the number one FIT graduate I knew,” said
Wintour. “I said to him, ‘What should I say to these students
that might actually be of use?’ He said, ‘The most important
thing is to have a vision. It doesn’t matter what you’re
doing, just so long as you have a point of view that’s
entirely your own.’ Calvin, I couldn’t agree more.”
Klein, class of 1963, was on hand to receive an honorary
doctorate of fine arts degree from his alma mater. He said the
school taught him to believe in his ideas, which ultimately
convinced others to believe in his ideas as a result.
“Fashion is a tough, complex business that craves new ideas,
whether it’s marketing, merchandising or design,” said Klein.
“In simple words, be inspired and be fearless.”
Meanwhile, before the ceremony, Klein told WWD of his worst
moment at FIT: “There was a class for design students on
understanding machinery and one of the ones we studied was the
sewing machine. I got my finger caught in the machine and the
needle went through my index finger twice before it finally
broke. Fortunately, today, you can be a designer without
sewing yourself.”
Source: WWD, May 27, 2003. Author:
Joshua Greene |
