The School of Fashion’s annual show is listed as the No. 1 San Francisco Fashion Industry Event
School of Fashion’s Graduation Fashion Show and Awards Ceremony. Photo by Randy Brooke.
The Academy of Art University School of Fashion Graduation Fashion Show has been named as the No. 1 San Francisco Fashion Industry Event in BizBash’s inaugural Top 100 list of Annual Events in San Francisco. BizBash’s widely renowned Top 100 list includes annual events that are evaluated based on economic impact, buzz, innovation, and the event’s prominence within the communities it intends to serve.
Held annually each Spring, Academy of Art University School of Fashion Graduation Fashion Show and Awards Ceremony is known for state-of-the-art production with European-style lighting, an LED wall, professional models flown in from across the country, and hair and make-up artists from MAC, Aveda, and Spoke & Weal Salon.
The runway show consists of collaborative collections from B.F.A. students who studied Fashion Design, Knitwear Design, Technical Design, Textile Design, and Jewelry and Metal Arts. A static exhibition and portfolio review is held ahead of the fashion show to give recruiters, industry executives and designers the opportunity to meet with students and view their work.
Over 2,000 guests attend the Graduation Fashion Show each year, including buyers, retailers and members of the international press. In 2014, recruiters and representatives from Abercrombie & Fitch, BCBGMAXAZRIA, Levi’s, Old Navy, Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Li & Fung and The North Face attended the fashion show and exhibit. Press in attendance included Style.com, Women’s Wear Daily, California Apparel News, The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Magazine, C Social Front, Refinery29, Racked, 7×7, Marin Magazine and Haute Living.
In addition to showcasing student work, the School of Fashion hosts fashion industry icons as guests of honor to present awards and internships to the graduating students. In 2014 the guests of honor included Rosita Missoni, Angela Missoni, Margherita Maccapani Missoni, and Suzy Menkes, International Vogue Editor of Condé Nast.
“The Graduation Fashion Show truly serves as a platform to give students exposure to launch their careers,” said Simon Ungless, Executive Director of the School of Fashion. “To be recognized by BizBash for our students’ outstanding work and for the Academy’s influence in the industry is quite an honor. We are thrilled to have our Graduation Fashion Show included in BizBash’s Top 100 Events for San Francisco.”
“When you look at the collective impact of these annual events, it’s clear just how influential live experiences can be, and how San Francisco has grown as a hotbed for groundbreaking gatherings,” says BizBash editor in chief Anna Sekula. “The California city is the home of hundreds of prominent conferences and events that represent huge opportunities for building communities and movements, starting debates, and allowing for the exchange of ideas.”
The first Top 100 Events in San Francisco is available on the BizBash website: http://bit.ly/11fwY4D.