Apparel Fabrics 2005: DKNY & Italian Trade Commission

RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN STUDENTS, DKNY, AND THE ITALIAN TRADE COMMISSION COLLABORATE TO REINVIGORATE THE “COZY”

Student Cozies to Be Exhibited and for Sale at the DKNY Flagship Store on Madison Avenue, Beginning with a Reception on November 15, 2005.

This fall, about twenty students in one of RISD’s Textile Department studio courses have a real-world challenge on their hands: to breathe new life into one of DKNY’s most successful pieces of apparel, the “cozy”—a hybrid sweater (or shawl with sleeves) that has outsold all other items in Donna Karan’s secondary line over the past few years.

How do you improve on a classic? The students’ ingenuity will be one of two quality ingredients in the recipe for the next great cozy. The other? Cashmere, of course. Through a collaboration with the Italian Trade Commission, the students will use fine cashmere and cashmere-blend yarns donated by seven of Italy’s top spinners—Loro Piana, Carriagi, Lora & Festa, Sesia, Marchi Giovanni, Filartex, Zegna Baruffa, and Avia—all exhibitors at Pitti Filati, Italy’s premiere yarn trade show.

“It’s wonderful for our students to have access to the best cashmere yarns in the world,” says Liz Collins, assistant professor in the Textile Department, designer, and RISD alumna. “Using the finest materials rather than the less-expensive yarns usually found in the classroom is tremendously inspiring to the creative process. It will go a long way toward tackling this exciting real-world design problem.”

Donna Karan agrees. “Everyone knows my passion for cashmere. This project gives students a chance to balance the creative with the commercial while working with my favorite fabric.”

Using a palette of grays, the RISD students will creatively interpret both the materials and the silhouette of the cozy, based on the theme “adorned and unadorned.” Two of DKNY’s designers, who have reinvented the cozy dozens of times themselves, visited the RISD studio and encouraged students to design in one of two directions: the practical (what kind of cozy would be the most versatile and marketable?); and the fantastical (what would the most unexpected cozy imaginable look like?). The designers will continue to check in on progress throughout the five-week design process.

The RISD students are excited by the chance to generate new ideas and innovations for the DKNY brand. Their prototypes will be part of a month-long display and available for purchase at the DKNY flagship boutique on Madison Avenue, beginning with a reception on November 15th from 7-9 PM. Twenty percent of sales on the opening night will help support the purchase of a high-tech industrial knitting machine for RISD’s Textile Department. In addition, DKNY will pay students a design fee and two will be chosen to intern for the company. DKNY also anticipates incorporating, in whole or in part, ideas developed by RISD students—in its next line of cozies.