A floor-length navy tulle dress with a beaded white mock neck that dissolves into the dress was one of the standout pieces that capped fashion student Madeline Gruen’s impressive showing at the 114th annual Pratt Fashion Show and Cocktail Benefit on April 25, at Manhattan’s The Top of the Standard.
The dress, along with several others from Gruen’s women and menswear collection of “classic formalwear,” helped earn her the “Liz Claiborne Award – Concept to Product” – a $25,000 award that will support the Pratt Institute senior’s entrepreneurial projects and line development after graduation.
Gruen was just one of 17 graduating seniors from Pratt whose clothing designs were pre-selected by a panel of industry experts and put on display during the hot-ticket fashion show where renowned designers such as Thom Browne and editors the likes of Vogue’s Hamish Bowles were in attendance. The range in their designs spanned structured silhouettes, futuristic patterns, and unique fabrics, some with embellishments and surface applications, all designed and hand-applied by the students.
The event also served as a fundraiser for Pratt student scholarships and Pratt’s Department of Fashion. Funding was awarded in part through a grant from the Importer Support Program of the Cotton Board and by Cotton Incorporated.
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