2011 Pratt Fashion Show and Cocktail Benefit April 26, 2011 Metropolitan Pavilion Photographed by James Bluck   Opposite Photo: Abby Dubois Fashion

New York Cool photographer James Bluck attended the 2011 Pratt Fashion Show and Benefit where he took these photographs (the names of the up-and-coming designers are on each photo).

Here is a quote from the Pratt website about the evening:

"Honoring Hamish Bowles, Recipient of the 2011 Pratt Institute Fashion Icon Award
Hamish Bowles, European Editor-at-Large for Vogue, is a recognized authority on fashion and currently contributes to Vogue.com under his rubric "The Hamishsphere." He curated the much acclaimed exhibition, "Balenciaga: Spanish Master," which was held this winter at the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute in New York City and will open this spring at the de Young Museum in San Francisco. He also curated "Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2001. Bowles has written and lectured extensively on fashion history, art, lifestyle, and interior design, and he has authored and co-authored several books including Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years (2001); Carolina Herrera: Portrait of a Fashion Icon (2004); Vogue Living: Houses, Gardens, People (2007); Yves Saint Laurent Style (2008); The World in Vogue: People, Parties, Places (2009); Balenciaga: Spanish Master (2010); and Balenciaga and Spain (2011)."

And more from the website about the Fashion Show:

"The Pratt Institute Fashion Show is held each spring in Manhattan to showcase the select work of graduating seniors from the Institute's Department of Fashion Design. The designs shown during the runway presentation are pre-selected by a panel of esteemed fashion industry critics and span several categories of apparel, including sportswear, menswear, costume, evening, and bridal. Each year, the runway show begins with the presentation of the Pratt Institute Fashion Icon Award to a renowned figure in the fashion industry who has been particularly inspirational to that year's graduating class. The show is followed by a cocktail benefit held in his or her honor. One of the most prestigious colleges for art, design, and architecture in the world, Pratt Institute is home to the first fashion design program in the United States."