At last: A summer camp for tween and teen fashionistas
Joe Zee, a famous figure in the fashion industry, left, and Rob Younkers, a designer and fashion adjunct associate professor at Parsons the New School for Design, right, co-founded a new fashion camp taking place in East Hampton this August. Credit: Handout
A “faaaabulous” (as we fashion types like to say) new summer camp for budding fashion designers between the ages of 10-15 will launch this August in East Hampton. And, phew, there are still a few spots left at Stitched Fashion Camp, where fashion loving boys and girls will have the opportunity to tap into their inner designer, learn a tremendous amount about the fashion world and create their own mini-collections by the program’s end.
“Kids who love sports go to sports camp, kids who love horseback riding go to horseback riding camp. Where do kids who love fashion go?,” asks Rob Younkers, a co-founder of the camp who is a designer an adjunct associate professor at Parsons the New School for Design. (He was, by the way, hired for his position by Project Runway’s Tim Gunn.) Younkers got the bug to teach kids after his stint on MTV series “MADE” where he mentored a 14-year-old designer wannabe. “For any artist, the younger you get started, the better. And for creative kids, this is an opportunity to be constantly creating, be motivated and learn how to do new things,” says Younkers. “I want these kids to feel a great sense of achievement and to leave camp with new friends and a new skill set.”
His partner and the camp’s co-founder, Joe Zee, a famous figure in the fashion industry, will wear a couple of hats this summer…one, do his regular job as creative director of Elle Magazine, and the other, work as, well, a counselor. Zee, who has been named among the world’s top 15 stylists, also stars in the Sundance Channel’s “All On The Line With Joe Zee,” where he mentors struggling designers. Says Zee about Stitched’s mission, “We want to pull apart the curtain on the fashion industry and help kids be inspired.
Guest “counselors” will include an accessories designer from Tory Burch, Stacey Battat, the costume designer on Sofia Coppola’s movie “The Bling Ring,” Kara Laricks, season one winner of TV fashion competition “Fashion Star,” and a few other drop-bys such as Nicole Miller.
Campers will execute their visions on brand new sewing machines provided by Singer, and have the opportunity to create their own fabrics courtesy online site Spoonflower.com.
Will Stitched produce the next fashion prodigy? “It would be great if we found the next Karl Lagerfeld,” says Zee. “But if the kids come out excited and inspired and knowing how to sew the hem on a pair of pants, that’s fantastic.”
Fashion camp doesn’t come cheap. A two-week session that runs Monday through Friday from Aug. 5-16 is $1,850. There is also a one week option available for $925 that goes from Aug.12-16. The camp is located at Guild Hall, 158 Main St. in East Hampton. The kids are encouraged to bring their imaginations and creativity. And they have to bring their own lunch.
For more information go to stitchedfashioncamp.com.
