American Style Symposium

Friday, December 4 - Saturday, December 5, 2009
9:30 am - 5:00 pm
Haft Auditorium, Feldman Center, Second Floor

American Style was The Museum at FIT's eighth annual, two-day symposium, held in conjunction with the exhibition American Beauty: Aesthetics and Innovation in Fashion. Designers, scholars, authors, and curators discussed fashion of the Americas and explored themes ranging from the diversity of the American fashion industry to the unique characteristics of New York fashion. The symposium also featured conversations with some of the most innovative American designers working today.

View Symposium Images on Flickr

Symposium Schedule

Speaker Biographies | Download the Brochure (PDF)

 friday, december 4
9:30 - 10:30 am Check-in, registration, and coffee
Haft Auditorium, Feldman Center, second floor
10:30 am - 12:30 pm Welcoming Remarks
Dr. Valerie Steele, Introduction
Patricia Mears, American Beauty
Caroline Rennolds Milbank, The Origin of the American Look
Kohle Yohannan, The Small Town Girl and the Femme Fatale: Claire McCardell & Valentina
12:30 pm - 2 pm  Lunch Break
2 - 5 pm Dr. Alexandra Palmer, Christian Dior and American Fashion
Colleen Hill, The Mad Hatter: Mr. John and Mid-Century Millinery
Pamela Golbin, A French View of American Fashion
Maria Cornejo, and Christian Cota, Latin America and Fashion
 
 Saturday, december 5
9:30 am - 10:30 am Check-in, registration, and coffee
Haft Auditorium, Feldman Center, second floor
10:30 am - 12:30 pm David Colman, Prep-posterous: How History, Mythology, Race, and Fashion Have Clashed and Colluded to Create Today's Prep Revival
Holly George-Warren, Manuel and Cowboy Cool Culture
Dr. Van Dyk Lewis, Hip Hop Fashion: The Psycho Mind and Body Drop
12:30 - 2 pm   Lunch Break
2 - 5 pm Charles Kleibacker and Patricia Mears, in conversation
Eric WilsonFashion Journalism in the Digital Age
Yeohlee Teng and Dr. Susan Sidlauskasin conversation