New York-based Parsons fashion school to re-establish Paris campus
NYC-based Parsons to set up in Paris again as part of a network of global teaching hubs
From Marc Jacobs to Alexander Wang, star alumni of New York's Parsons design school have long made inroads in Paris. But now the faculty is going a step further, opening a full-fledged branch in the fashion capital.
Many of the industry's most sought after names learned the ropes at Parsons The New School for Design, from Tom Ford to Proenza Schouler's Lazaro Hernandez.
Joel Towers, executive dean of Parsons, says the school learned how to use New York as a "laboratory", and hopes to achieve the same in Paris.
Paris is destined to become one of a network of teaching hubs, with Parsons programmes in the pipeline for Mumbai, Shanghai, and Latin America, allowing an international student corps to draw on the resources of each.
"We are not just running after where the money is - we are not going to Qatar or Abu Dhabi," said Tim Marshall, provost of the New School University to which Parsons belongs.
"These are global cities, cities that make sense as a comparative set. It's also about the movement of ideas," added Towers.
The century-old New York school first set up shop in Paris in 1921, but ties with its French offshoot dwindled over time to little more than a licensing deal, now expired.