Parsons School of Design Presents “WE DEM KIDS,” an MFA Fashion Design and Society activation at the Brooklyn Museum
The MFA Fashion Design and Society program (MFA FDS) in the School of Fashion at Parsons School of Design presented “WE DEM KIDS,” the work of its 12th generation of graduates during an activation as part of New York Fashion Week at the Brooklyn Museum on September 11, 2023.
The MFA FDS recently welcomed Lucia Cuba as the new Program Director and Sariah Park as Associate Director. Both their practices and vision for fashion education stand at the intersection of social justice and expanded fashion practices, a change in leadership that marks a new approach for the MFA Program centered on the designer’s role, agency, and power to impact society and the planet.
This year’s activation, entitled “WE DEM KIDS,” presents the work of graduates Anna Roth, Chang Liu, Fabiola Soavelo, Hsiao-Han Kuo, Mel Corchado, Nan Jiang, Natsum Aoki, Pipenco Lorena, Ren Haixi, Siri, Story, Sunny Ning, Yamil Arbaje, Ying Kong and Yu Gong, who reflect on the beauty of shared experiences, the resilience of heritage, and those unshakable bonds that tie us to the past and propel us into the future.
With School of Fashion (SoF) faculty member Jeff Karly Drouillard’s creative direction and storytelling, Tiffany Webber’s production, a team of students from across programs at the SoF assisting in multiple processes of the production of the show, and the Brooklyn Museum’s historic landmark and active role in New York’s arts and culture communities, “WE DEM KIDS” invites viewers to rethink the times and places where fashion is experienced: an invitation to engage with fashion as visual art and performance. Runway Photo Credit: Aleksandr Karjaka
