Last year, the fashion duo behind the brand Proenza Schouler, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, confessed to Vogue about outsourcing their Parsons senior thesis collection.
“You’re supposed to make all of your own garments, but we sort of outsourced,” said Lazaro Hernandez. The two graduated in 2002 with Designer of the Year honors at Parsons.
Fourteen years later, Fashion Design students are expected to physically create the majority of their collection for their thesis, but 33% can be completed by a hired seamstress. According to the outsourcing guidelines given out each year by the department, outsourcing is used for final touches students may not have the time or resources to complete, such as finishing, tailored details, and accessories like shoes and jewelry.
Despite the regulations, a small controversy around outsourcing arose in March. The heads of the department sent out an email to senior students announcing that outside sewers were no longer allowed in the University Center in response to students bringing sewers inside the school to work on their thesis collections.
In a statement released by the New School, Fiona Dieffenbacher, the program director of the Fashion Design department said, “while I’m unable to discuss the details, I would like to reiterate that students are able to outsource some finishing work on their collections, but are not able to bring outside workers to utilize university lab spaces and equipment, in keeping with university policy of no third-party contractors being admitted on campus.”
It was noted by students and faculty over spring break, that Fashion Design students were bringing hired sewers to school workspaces, using student space, and in turn, raising questions about the use of outsourcing for senior thesis collections.
Students in the Parsons fashion community speculate that some of their peers outsource more than 33 percent for their thesis. It has also been noted that many of these students win scholarships and awards for work they may not have necessarily done themselves.
However, some students feel that the Fashion Design program should not limit the percentage of items being outsourced.
Fashion Design Junior, Drishti Gangwani, has been designing and outsourcing since she was 14-years old. With designing rather than sewing being her strong suit, she finds the demands of Parsons frustrating. “I’m constantly being bogged down by the fact that everyone else around me knows how to sew,” she said. “I’m about to be a senior and I feel like I’ve wasted the two most important years.”
Other students are frustrated that their peers brought hired sewers into designated student spaces.
“Honestly, I think what was frustrating is that they would sometimes take up machines that were in use, but honestly, it doesn’t bother me,” said Fashion Design senior Lexy Hotai. “The main thing for me that is that people aren’t giving credit where credit is due.”
While some students are not bothered by the action of outsourcing, they point out that the problem lies with their peers being rewarded for how much they spend on their thesis, rather than their skill.
“I do think outsourcing can be appropriate when it needs to be. Like shoes, for a collection,” said Katrina Simon, a sophomore at Parsons. “If it’s for panel, keeping it fair it shouldn’t be who has money to hire a sewer and who doesn’t. As a person who wouldn’t be able to do that, I think it’s kind of unfair and creates an uneven playing field.”