A Cut Above

With intricate paper fashion and sculpture, Pratt Institute students excel.

Annie Block -- Interior Design, 4/1/2011 2:44:00 PM

Students: 27. Disciplines: four. Material: one. They all added up in "Pratt + Paper & Ralph Pucci." Pratt Institute president Thomas F. Schutte initiated the competition and exhibition, for which undergrads and graduates studying interior, industrial, and fashion design or the fine arts were asked to use sheets of plain white paper, in any size, to create a garment or a sculpture. Fasteners were allowed, but the construction method had to be evident. As explained by the dean of the school of art and design, Concetta Stewart, the idea was to help students "understand the power of parameters as a catalyst for innovation."

Vicente Wolf, an Interior Design Hall of Fame member, and Jens Risom, who designs furniture for Ralph Pucci International, were among the eight judges considering the 24 entries once they went on display at Pucci's New York showroom-either dressing mannequins or hanging from the ceiling. The four winners received a fitting trophy, a miniature man­nequin cast in fiberglass.

Photography by Antoine Bootz.