To view a summary video of our 2016 Fashion Intelligence Symposium, click here.
“Be true to yourself” was the overarching message of Murray Hill Institute’s second Fashion Intelligence Symposium. With “Authentic Fashion” as its theme, the symposium brought together designers, fashion journalists, bloggers, and consumers to explore the many facets of the world of fashion. We were pleased to partner once again with the Fashion Institute of Technology and Villanueva Centro Universitario in Madrid in bringing this project to realization. The symposium was held on April 9, 2016, in the Katie Murphy Amphitheater at FIT in New York City.
Joan Volpe, Managing Coordinator of The Center for Professional Studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology, welcomed everyone to the symposium. She invited everyone to view the exhibits at the Museum at FIT, Denim: Fashion’s Frontier and Fairy Tale Fashion.
Four speakers shared their unique perspectives gleaned from their lives and careers in the fashion industry. Patricia Herrera Lansing, special projects director of Carolina Herrera New York and CH Carolina Herrera, shared her career path from fashion editor at Vanity Fair to her current position.Asked about what it was like to work for her own mother, she assured us that it was great fun and that they shared a lot of laughs together.
Victoria Sanchez-Lincoln, the Fashion Director of the magazine Real Simple, spoke about “Communicating Authentic Fashion: How media provides strategies that enable consumers to remain stylish, modern and unique.” She described the decision-making processes that go into creating the fashion spreads for the magazine each month, and how theme, season, and current trends interact to keep readers engaged.
A networking reception between the second and third talks gave the attendees an opportunity to meet the speakers and to share ideas and experiences with each other.
“Authentic Fashion: creative, forward-thinking and designed with a woman’s desire for self-expression in mind” was the focus of Leonor Silva’s presentation. Leonor took us behind the scenes at her Brooklyn-based company Leonor Silva and gave us a step-by-step tour of the work that goes into designing, marketing, and manufacturing clothes. Her slides from her current collection had us all ooh-ing and aah-ing.
Denyse del Carmen Floreano closed the afternoon by speaking about “Being Authentic in a Virtual World: How to find your styles and dress with authenticity in a world burgeoning with images and expectations.” As a former Miss Venezuela and a career model, Denyse experienced first-hand the expectations of body image that go with being front-and-center in the beauty industries.
Teresa Carale, President of Murray Hill Institute, thanked the speakers and invited everyone to next year’s Fashion Intelligence Symposium, to be held on Saturday, April 29,2017. We will be posting more information on our website as plans progress.
