Pratt Institute returned with its annual Pratt Shows: Fashion on Wednesday night at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, Recent York.

The event kicked off with opening remarks from the Brooklyn school’s president Frances Bronet. “Tonight is a major example of the creativity and exertions that our students are known for throughout the art and design world at large,” Bronet said, adding that Pratt Institute’s fashion program is the oldest within the country.

“We’re so proud to have a room of noteworthy fashion experts here tonight, and it’s our distinct privilege to honor the exceptional journalist Robin Givhan, recognizing the thoughtful criticism, her expert eye and celebrations of diverse voices and perspectives in fashion design,” Bronet said, introducing Teri Agins to present Givhan, The Washington Post’s senior critic-at-large and Pulitzer Prize winner, with Pratt’s Fashion Visionary Award for her groundbreaking fashion criticism and work across the humanities, race and politics.

“Thanks Pratt. I would like to just accept it on behalf of all of the journalists that the style industry welcomes, knowing that sometimes the stories might be critical or skeptical or tough. I thanks for that generosity and graciousness,” Givhan said during her acceptance speech. “To each student embarking on a profession or to the style industry, my wish for you is that you just find satisfaction, joy and meaning, and which you could pay your bills. I also hope that you just make the industry more inclusive, more sustainable, and that you just proceed to graciously welcome journalists.”

Just before the Pratt Shows: Fashion’s runway portion kicked off, Jennifer Minniti, chair of the department of fashion and inaugural Jane B. Nord professor of fashion design, announced designer Byron Lars as her successor because the Jane B. Nord professor of fashion design. His appointment will begin originally of the autumn semester. Minniti also noted the launch of the college’s recent MFA in Fashion Collection + Communication for 2024.

Titled “Assemblage,” Pratt’s 122nd annual, hourlong runway show featured works from select graduating seniors of the the Department of Fashion 2023: Shuming Gu, Aimee Schmale, Camille Bavera, Kristin Guo, Mackenzie O’Mara, Justin Cavone, Xinran Zhao, Zoë Crane, Mekinsa Emi Frith, Annie McWilliams, Phoenix Mei, Cameron Bourne, Jo Lu, Dominique Fiorino, Mingyi Teresa Wu, Heather Ortiz, Yue Wu, Pelling Helen Wu, Eden You, Yichen Lu and Haozhe Wang.

The collections were made up of each ready-to-wear and accessories. Styles ranged from voluminous (a la Lu) to club-kid (from Frith) to conceptual tailoring, daring knitwear (as in a robust assortment of colourful, graphic numbers from Ortiz) and ethereal, fluid designs with bumping soundtracks to match. Moreover, creative works were noted by Pratt to deal with “wide-ranging themes, material investigations and private narratives — from sustainability to gender neutrality and nonconformity.”

“I used to be really impressed with all of the textiles — they were telling me how they dye them, do the knitting, all of that. I assumed the upcycled pieces were really impressive; the show also made me rethink trousers,” Givhan said post-show.

“To me, [the award is] a reminder or form of a validation that the industry respects thoughtful criticism, and it welcomes it. I believe there’s such a generosity in giving me an award for doing that; I believe that’s a component of the stature of the scholars and school here,” she said.

Immediately following the show, Lu was named winner of the Christopher Hunte “On Point’ Award for her conceptual lineup.

“I used to be really surprised to win,” Lu said post-show. “It was a yr of exertions; I got loads of support from my professors and everybody I’ve been working with for the last 4 years. My collection is known as ‘Melting Away,’ and is about me coming from a really cold place and experiencing the melting of snow and ice — the poetic process. I attempted to create loads of soft structures with foam and collapsing structures with mesh and soft fabrics. I used to be really specializing in textures and softness; the layering of colours was a reference to the interplay of sunshine and the strategy of melting.”