Photo: Brian Suter-Maury, Parsons '11

For the usual college senior, graduation day means donning a not-so-flattering cap and gown to a ceremony where most students are probably hungover from the night before.  If you’re graduating Parsons, however, graduation comes in the form of a first fashion collection—one that marks the end of four years of crafting raw talent into what could be the next Marc Jacobs or Donna Karan (both Parsons alums).

Yesterday Reed Krakoff (also a Parsons alum) hosted the 2011 BFA Fashion Show, which parlayed the incredible creations of a hand-picked group of 35 fashion design students who were all finalists in the running for the school’s annual Designer of the Year award. Students showed off men’s, women’s and kid’s wear and while we’d expect the collections to look a little familiar, perhaps due to influences on the young designers by their idols or muses, the collections were certainly, if not refreshingly, unique. Post-show Krakoff said, “I think this was the best Parsons show I’ve ever been to. It was creative and wearable and what was great was that a lot of times the student designs can be very referential and I think this year everything seemed really personal.”

After the student show, the day culminated in the annual Parsons Benefit held in the same space at Chelsea Piers with design stars like Prabal Gurung, Peter Som and Narciso Rodriguez. Guests were able to admire more student designs on display throughout the room including architectural shoes, gowns made of lace and feathers, and a new Coach bag designed by Parsons ’11 graduate Joel Harding (he won the design competition put on by Krakoff earlier in the year).

J.Crew’s Jenna Lyons was in the crowd, too. She said the best advice she got as a young designer was to “keep an open mind about learning and don’t get too concerned with the end result. Often, young designers are racing to get to the end of the game and become super famous really fast but it should be more about taking the time to learn and really finding you’re own aesthetic and your own raw talent that sets you apart from the rest.” Krakoff agreed, “I could have probably used more work in school.” Looks like it turned out OK in the end!