Fashion designer Nguyen of Bravo TV’s ‘Launch My Line’ to speak Feb. 24

Thai Nguyen, a fashion designer and contestant on Bravo TV’s reality television series “Launch My Line,” will give an informal talk on Wednesday, Feb. 24, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. as part of the Fashion Design Lecture Series in Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA). The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in the design lab on the seventh floor of The Warehouse, 350 W. Fayette St.

Nguyen will also spend part of his visit working with fashion design and surface pattern design students in VPA’s School of Art and Design and serving as guest critic for the fashion design program’s senior collections. He will review each collection and help each student edit his or her 25-piece collection to six looks that will be created and shown on campus April 29-30. This will be followed by a fashion show in New York City that will feature works selected by a jury in Syracuse.

Nguyen graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in 2002. Following graduation, he earned the title of associate designer for BCBG Max Azria, which he held through 2004. Since then he has become the designer of choice for prominent Vietnamese entertainment production companies Asia Entertainment, Van Son Entertainment and Thuy Nga. In 2008, he and his partner, Helen Nguyen, opened the showroom and storefront Thai Nguyen Couture in Westminster, Calif.

“Launch My Line,” which recently concluded its first season, is a creative competition series in which 10 established fashion designers are paired with 10 industry professionals who are highly regarded in their own field of expertise but have always dreamed of having their own clothing line. The pairs work together to create a fashion line; the winner has his or her line launched.

VPA debuted the Fashion Design Lecture Series in its School of Art and Design in January. The inaugural guest, Bloomingdale’s fashion director Stephanie Solomon ’72, also served as a guest critic for the fashion design program’s senior collections.

Focused on design and creative development, VPA’s fashion design program offers an intellectually stimulating environment with a global perspective. This, coupled with practical and theoretical skills, technology and the study of the cultural context in which fashion exists, provides a broad-based education in fashion. In addition to Solomon, notable alumni from SU and the fashion design program include Henry Grethel, Betsey Johnson, Donald Brooks, Tom and Linda Platt, Lisa Kline and Danna Weiss.