ETFASHION GLOBAL DESING AWARDS JUDGES
JOHN ALLEN
Artist
Fine Arts Faculty | Fashion Institute of Technology | New York
John Allen is a painter and sculptor who was born in Japan and grew up in California. He has participated in numerous exhibitions in New York and elsewhere at venues including M55 Gallery, Paula Cooper Gallery, the Drawing Center, P.S. 1, Artists Space, the Kingston Sculpture Biennial, the Hudson River Museum, and White Columns, where he showed his seminal camouflage paintings and sculptures.
He exhibited at Basement Workshop's Catherine Street Gallery in New York’s Chinatown in the 1980s, and was portfolio project coordinator of From Basement to Godzilla, a limited-edition portfolio of original prints by 46 artists in conjunction with the New Museum exhibition, Urban Encounters. Mr. Allen received New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships in Painting in 2000 and 1994, and is on the Fine Arts faculty at Fashion Institute of Technology.
At FIT, Mr. Allen co-founded and has been co-chair of ARTSpeak, an interdisciplinary program that organizes speaker presentations, artist studio visits, visiting lecturers, and other activities that engage students and the community with artists and creative practitioners in many disciplines.
LULA ALDUNATE
Visual Composer | Artist | Designer
Founder & Creative Director | Lulaland
Lula Aldunate the founder and Creative Director of lulaland, originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina living in NY, since 2008. She is a Brooklyn based children’s clothing label internationally recognized for its original prints and use of organic cottons in colorful textures.
Before starting her career as fashion designer and visual stylist, she lived in Spain and Italy where she adopted big part of her unique aesthetics sensibility. With a background in Marketing, Business Administration, Graphic and Interior Design, Lula began to create visual experiences and products with and authentic mix of traditional European charm and latin American spirit.
She started her career in Buenos Aires, as a fashion and interior stylist,t working for magazines like Elle and Elle Decoracion, till she moved to NY in 2008 to pursue more of her creative dreams…
A year later she started her own company, lulaland, offering services as photo-styling, interiors and set design, having her work published in international printed publications and renowned blogs. In 2012, opened Allegria Boutique, a whimsical children’s store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. As a result of being immersed in the little’s world every day for two years (and loving it every minute!) and a trip to India (where where lulaland makes its collections) Lula started designing and making small clothes… Lula’s passion for creating has allowed her to share her vision with the world. She is a crafter and lover of all things vintage, quirky details, colors and prints.
GILLION CARRARA
Adjunct Professor | School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Founding Director | Fashion Resource Center
Board Member | Costume Colloquium & Member of ICOM & CSA
Gillion Carrara is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Art History, Theory and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has been employed in the Department since 1991, and in the Department of Fashion Design since 1978.
In her studies, her focus is on contemporary and avant-garde fashion and dress, art, literature, sociology and the aesthetics of fashion and dress.
Until 2017, she was the founding Director of the Fashion Resource Center, and for thirty years built a collection of contemporary and avant-garde fashion, publications and various media. It is not a historic collection but a hands-on visual and tactile collection.
She actively writes book and exhibition reviews for publication and presents lectures locally and nationally, attends costume symposiums, travels to costume exhibitions and is on the Board of Costume Colloquium, Florence, Italy, a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) and the Costume Society of America (CSA).
RONGRONG CUI
PhD | Professor | School of Textiles and Clothing | Jiangnan University
Design & Creative Director | Suzhou Ruifuxiang Silk & Zhejiang Cuckoo Fashion Design
Professional Consultant & Member | Steering Committee of Clothing at the Ministry of Education
Prof. Rongrong Cui is an educator in fashion design as well as a collector of traditional Chinese costumes. He founded the Museum of Chinese folk costumes at Jiangnan University which is the first domestic professional institution dedicated to the protection of traditional Chinese Han costumes.
In addition, he is responsible for a number of national and provincial-level scientific research projects and has published many academic monographs. He participated in the fashion design for national leaders of the 2014 APEC summit. He was awarded the Light of Textiles- Excellent Teacher Prize, the second prize of division of humanities and social science of the ministry of education, etc.
As a professor, he encourages academic research and design innovations in traditional Chinese costumes, actively promotes international academic exchanges, and keeps close cultural and academic connections with overseas universities such as the University of California at Davis, Louisiana University, etc.
ANETA GENOVA
Accessory Designer | Wearable Tech Guru
Fashion Product Professor | Parsons School of Design
Aneta Genova is an accessory designer, book author and associate professor at Parsons School of Design. She teaches fashion product thesis studio and creative tech studio at the School of Fashion and design and technology classes at the School of Art Media and Technology. She specializes in creating and leading workshops in accessory design, fashion and technology, and wearable tech.
Her career started as a fashion designer at Marc Jacobs and Polo Jeans, but her interest in accessories and her love for gadgets lead her to start her own company in 2003, developing fashion for technology. She created some of the first luxury leather iPod cases on the market and started a successful e-commerce business. This idea transitioned into an affordable line, sold at Target stores throughout the country. Since then she has designed accessories for some of the most famous brands in the world like Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren and published the first comprehensive, college level textbook Accessory Design. (Fairchild Books/Bloomsbury Publishing)
Aneta Genova’s interest in Fashion and Technology evolved through her graduate degree: MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design. Her second book: Fashion and Technology, A Guide to Materials and Applications was co-authored with Katherine Moriwaki and was published by Fairchild Books, Bloomsbury Publishing in 2016.
GANG QI
Top 10 Fashion Designer | China
Chairman | China Fashion Designers Association
Art & Design Director | SEC
Qi Gang is a recipient of the top designer of the China Fashion Design Award and one of the top ten clothing designers in China. He was awarded the "Master" Medal of the Shanghai International Fashion Festival in addition to being the chairman of the China Fashion Designers Association. He is SEC’s art & design director, a purveyor of eastern inspired men's and women's fashion, and a co-founder of Han Ling brand.
He has extensive experience and is a much sought after designer for custom high fashion for well-known celebrities such as Fan Bingbing, Gao Yuanyuan, Wang Guan, etc. Star wearing his designs have graced the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, the Rome Film Festival, the Venice International Film Festival, the Berlin Film Festival, and large-scale programs of well-known Chinese media companies such as CCTV, Hunan Satellite TV, and Dragon TV. He is also the first Chinese designer to receive an invitation to speak from Harvard University.
SHALY GUO
Fashion Designer
Design Director | Fame Fashion House
Co-founder | Varena de Bella & ETFashion Instructor
Shaly Guo is a talented New York-based independent fashion designer, Design Director of Fame Fashion House, Co-founder of Varena de Bella, ETFashion Couture Enlightenment Instructor, and currently in the process of establishing her own brand. She previously studied at the prestigious School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) where she majored in fashion design.
Her work is characterized by an imaginative flair with a touch of boldness and has been showcased at a variety of events including New York Fashion Week, Austin Fashion Week, and Chicago Fashion Week as well as international fashion magazines such as Vogue, Sanotion, Soleil, etc.
Prior to starting her own independent clothing line, Shaly Guo, she worked extensively under internationally renowned brands such as Anna Sui, Marc Jacobs, Louis Vuitton, Club Monaco, etc.
CONRAD HAMATHER
Educator & Artist | West Virginia University | School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Producer & Creative Director | Maybelline · Swarovski · Aveda · Cotton Inc. · Cadillac
Advisory | Mayor's Fashion Council of Chicago
Conrad Hamather is a design educator & artist who is currently on faculty as Visiting Assistant Professor within the School of Design and Community Development (SDCD) at West Virginia University as well as PhD candidate in the Human and Community Design (HCD) program in the Davis College at WVU. Parallel to his appointment at WVU, he is on faculty at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) within the Department of Fashion Design, where he focuses in the hybrid of body & fashion.
He serves as Producer and Creative Director for the annual runway capstone experience, as well as the Office of Institutional Advancement Liaison to corporate entities such as Maybelline, Swarovski, Aveda, Cotton Inc., Cadillac among others. He held his title in Chicago for over a decade teaching undergrad and graduate design studio & seminars. He built and lead the Master of Design; Fashion Body & Garments’ groundbreaking program alongside fellow artist Nick Cave. He served as advisory to the Mayors Fashion Council of Chicago. Prior to his academic trajectory, Mr. Hamather ran one of the countries most prolific and trailblazing percent for arts programs, Miami Dade Art in Public Places. He has held numerous curatorial positions both academically and private. Hamather has an MFA from Cranbrook Academy (2000) and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (1992)
He lives in Chicago and maintains a residence in the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania.
XUEMEI LI
Associate Professor & Deputy Dean | Fashion Accessory Art & Engineering College | Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology
FASHION DESIGNER: ACCESSORIES, HATS AND SHOES
In September, 2004. The design work of women shoes, Wind, has awarded the gold prize of Concept shoes grand prix, women shoes group, at the national Genuine Leather Mark Cup which hold by the China Leather Industry Association.
In November, 2012. Achieved the title of Chinese Top 10 lether designer, given by the China Leather Indusry Association.
In 2013. Has been hired as an expert in Chinese leather product design competition, including Jordan Cup China Sports Equipment Design Comp, Lining Cup, Genuine leather logo cip and bag design competition, etc.
In 2015. Served as the national judge of the first national leather design and making skills contests.
In 2017. Served as the national judge of the China International Accessories Competition.
JULIA POTEAT
Assistant Professor | School of Fashion | Parsons School of Design
FASHION DESIGNER: APPAREL, ACCESSORIES AND TEXTILES
Julia Poteat is a three-time Tommy Award winner for Intimate Apparel design. Her creations have graced the runway at the Victoria's Secret Annual Fashion Shows and have been exhibited in the New York City flagship store. She has created intimate and loungewear collections for Givenchy, Mary McFadden, Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors.
As faculty, Julia and her students have collaborated with prestigious international companies such as Li Ning Sportswear, China, Braccialini Handbags, Italy, Swarovski Crystals, Austria, Supima Cotton and Marie Claire Magazine in the United States. She encourages her students to be creative by conducting research in order to develop innovative concepts and beautiful designs.
As a fashion designer, her passion includes sustainability and textile exploration. This experience has allowed her to teach student workshops worldwide to be more aware of the use of sustainable materials when creating their designs.
Currently she is the owner and designer of JULIA POTEAT, a New York based luxury Handbag and Accessory Company that specializes in bespoke craftsmanship and the use of sustainable leathers and skins. Her designs have appeared in Fashion Manuscript, WWD, Pursuit Magazine, South Africa and Size Magazine, China.
She holds a BFA in Fashion Studies from Pratt Institute, Brooklyn New York.
PEINA QIU
Professor | Costume Art & Engineering | Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology
FASHION DESIGNER: COSTUME DESIGN
Qiu Peina is the professor of Costume Design in the department of Costume Art and Engineering at the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. She graduated from the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts in 1987 with a concentration in fashion design. Currently she teaches fashion design as well as serving as a postgraduate tutor. In addition, she is also the founder of the Creative Discretion teaching methodology. Through her research on the topics of "Stereoscopic Cutting" and "Creative Stereoscopic Cutting Curriculum", she has published dozens of research papers and books including Creative draping, and Creative Draping and Shirt Experiment.
Since 2006, professor Qiu has dedicated all of her spare time to the study of the overlap and combination of "Creative Draping" theory and application as well as the amalgamation of creativity and techniques, including a synergy of eyes, hands and brain, to achieve harmony of design. Over a period of seven years, based on the creation of more than 1000 pieces of works, she finished the ground breaking academic work titled Creative Draping which developed three-dimensional cutting theory and practical application, helping propel Beijing Institute Of Fashion Technology to a position of authority on the global stage in this subject matter.
Creative Draping is a theory which establishes a scalable and open modeling training system based upon three-dimensional draping techniques. Starting with a piece of cloth, Creative Draping helps guide practitioners directly into the creative stage where innovative ideas would be generated continuously. Through improvement of their sense of aesthetics and creativity, designers will be able to create exciting new fashion designs.
LYN SLATER
Professor | Cultural Influencer | Model | Writer | Content Creator
Lyn Slater is currently a professor of social work, a cultural influencer, a model, a writer, and content creator. She started her blog, Accidental Icon, in September 2014 because she could not find a fashion blog or magazine that offered an urban, modern, intellectual aesthetic and also spoke to people who live “interesting but ordinary lives” in cities. Lyn has reinvented herself as an influencer of popular culture and promotes the use of fashion as a vehicle to make change. Her rejection of identity categories as a variable to be considered in how one dresses has resonated and her blog has fans of all ages from around the world. Her Instagram has over 480,000 followers..
Lyn as Accidental Icon has been featured in: W Magazine, V Magazine, I.D. Magazine, Grey Magazine, Women’s Wear Daily, Vogue.com, Vogue Italia, Milk,, Flaunt Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar Brazil and Netherlands, Le’ Officiel Italia and Manila, Elle Germany, Cosmopolitan Japan, Vogue Espana, InStyle, Washington Post, NBC Nightly News, Refinery29 and many more print and on-line media outlets. Collaborations include: Valentino Eyewear, Mango, Uniqlo, Oribe, John Hardy, Dior, British Airways and other beauty and lifestyle brands.
Accidental Icon - www.accidentalicon.com Instagram - @iconaccidental
TSETSILIA TSYPINA
Faculty | School of Fashion | Parsons School of Design
FASHION DESIGNER: COUTURE AND SPORTSWEAR LINES
Cecilia Tsypina graduated with Honors from Parsons The New School for Design with a BFA in Fashion Design. Her professional experience is in the design of couture and sportswear lines, including wovens and knits, with the emphasis on sweaters. Over the course of twenty years Ms. Tsypina was employed as a creative and technical designer at Dimitry of Italy, Banana Republic, Gap, Liz Claiborne, Outlander, Design Options. Ms. Tsypina also has an extensive background in crafts, hand knitting, machine knitting, couture sewing, embroidery, beading. For the past eight years she has been designing unique embellished tops, sold through specialty stores in USA and Canada. Cecilia has been teaching in BFA, AAS, Pre-college and CE Fashion programs since Spring 2010.
Cecilia's wider interests are in the Art history, Poetry and Writing. Currently she is working on her fifth book of poetry, which will include her original writing and artwork. All her books are crafted and written entirely by hand by the author.
Cecilia Tsypina is an Artist Member of the NY Center for Book Arts. She exhibits her artist books every year at FIT Museums and Galleries.
Research Interests: cultural studies, writing, fine arts, poetry, art exhibits, crafts, handwriting.
GLENN TUNSTULL
Painter | Illustrator | Educator | Author
FIT | Pratt Institute | Marist College | Parsons School of Design
Glenn Tunstull has a pre-occupation with light and movement. It may well be what drew him to the Hudson River Valley after years of living in New York City and abroad. As a painter, he has exhibited annually on Martha’s Vineyard to a faithful following of fans and collectors.
As one of the A-list fashion illustrators, Tunstull was fully steeped in the culture of clothes along with contemporaries Antonio Lopez and Kenneth Paul Block. His work graced the pages of renowned publications such as Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, The New York Times and Women’s Wear Daily. The elite of fashion design and retail championed his work—from Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Joseph Abboud to Henri Bendel’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales and Neiman Marcus.
A period of global travel extended Tunstull’s artistic endeavors, starting with a trip to France and subsequent visits to Italy, Bali, Jamaica, Brazil, Australia, Britain and Martha’s Vineyard where he added watercolor and oil painting to his talents.
At the end of the 90’s, Tunstull entered the new realm of teaching fashion drawing at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Pratt Institute, Marist College and his alma mater, Parson’s, the New School of Design.
YAPING XU
Associate Professor | School of Textiles and Clothing | Jiangnan University
Design Director | Suit Select
Graduated with a degree in fashion styling from Wuxi University of Light Industry, one of the very first colleges that bestowed a degree in fashion design. Xu currently is an associate professor teaching undergrad and graduate students at Jiangnan University and has devoted her life to teaching fashion design, draping techniques, hand dyeing, and hand knitting. As an avid researcher Xu has written several academic fashion design books and textbooks along with publishing more than ten academic essays. Xu is also involved in the production and marketing of a multitude of fashion shows.
Xu guided her students to win many contests including first prize at the NAFA ( North American Fur Auctions) competition, Wuhan Fashion Week Just You and several other prizes in national and international competitions. Xu works as design director for SUIT SELECT while also serving as a designer of 35 and Japanese sports clothing brand Wurzl.
In the past few years Xu and her students have been working in cooperation with many fashion firms in China to solve issues associated with fast fashion. They work on studying how to produce the latest fashion design to using recent innovative technical developments such as environmental fabric and smart clothing.
RONG ZHANG
Fashion Designer
Alumni | London College of Fashion & School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Design Director | Han Wen Studio
Rong Zhang is an emerging Chinese womenswear fashion designer currently working for Han Wen Studio as well as having her own unique brand. She received her bachelor’s degree in womenswear fashion design from the renowned London College of Fashion and her masters in fashion design from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC).
Her collection is defined by an artistic fusion of craftsmanship, modern femininity, and youth culture influences with a sense of refined ease and has been featured in leading publications such as Vogue Italia, Vogue British, Rion, QC, Volant, Shuba, etc. in addition to having been showcased during New York Fashion Week, Austin Fashion Week, and Chicago Fashion Week, etc.
Her designs have earned her various accolades including the 2010 Raffles Design Institution First Year Scholarship and 2015 top 10 “Designer for Tomorrow”. Prior to her current position, she has had extensive experience working for Vera Wang, J.W. Anderson, J. Mendel, Xiao Li, etc.